Who: Roman & Ehren What: Building a case for Logan When: August 9th Where: Romans office Rating: Mid - talk of violence Status: Complete
We have to have solid, actual, undeniable evidence.
He was dreading this meeting with Roman, just like any other meeting with him that he had but if it helped Logan go free than maybe it was worth being around someone he despised. He was sure than seeing Ehren in his appointments would be a shock to Roman but he knew the other man would take delight in his suffering.
While he waited outside the office, two armed guards stood by the door, eyeing Ehren to make sure he wasn’t going to do something stupid. Finally the door opened and some words were said before the guards opened the door wider to allow him inside.
“Roman…” He said in ultimate disdain.
The phone conversation he had prior to seeing Ehren had been interesting - he had been doing his own investigation into the curious case staring all of them in the face. It really wasn’t a shock to him at all seeing Ehren’s name pop up onto his agenda. That was part of the plan, actually, to have the other man grovel for his help.
So as the man entered the office Roman smiled easily, “Ah, Ehren. We meet again so soon! Always a delight to see you. Would you care for some lunch? A beverage?” They might be there for a while.
“What brings you to my office? I see you made it through processing,” he mused, noting the healing condition of the other man, “though please tell me exactly what happened so I can make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else again. If you would, anyway.”
A hand would wave at the seats in front of the desk.
He rolled his eyes at the other man, not able to hold back his feelings any longer. “I’d like to get right to it if we could.” He retorted, a smug grin on his lips. Sure Roman would take a lot of pleasure in making him squirm but Ehren would do his best to make it as uneventful as he could since his bass instinct was to choke the other man.
“Logan is an innocent man and I’m here to be a character witness for him. Everything you’ve told me about him I can give you specific details about. He’s never shown any violence that wasn’t in defense of other people. His criminal record isn’t really a criminal record at all.”
Roman could dilly dally all he wanted but Ehren wasn’t going to let him mess around with him anymore. Logan needed to be freed.
Always cool, calm, and collected Roman nodded and offered a smile as Ehren began to speak about things he already was privy to. Whatever the point was would come, he knew it, and it was better to let the kettle fuss before taking it off of the burner.
“If you’d like to compare notes, I’d be happy to take your statement. As long as you can prove without a doubt what you claim then you shouldn’t have a problem speaking on his behalf.” He’d been in the courtroom many times.
A pen would be plucked up, again his hand would wave at the vacant seats. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me what you know? That’s what a witness does, right?” Eyebrows would lift and Roman opened the file of evidence he had been gathering on his own between the time Ehren had last been in his office and now. “Would you like to give a statement?”
“Yes.” He replied and found his way into the seat so that he could look this psychopath in the eye. He had to keep reminding himself that it was with it if Logan was able to be released. There had to be more evidence out there and he was going to find it.
“On the night of the storm I watched a security guard kick a resident out of the facility. Dorian Sloan. A guard then attempted to attack Dorian and Logan was attempting to protect Dorian.” This was a name he didn’t want to bring up, since Roman knew that they had gone on a date.
“You should interview him since he was there for that.” He added.
His penmanship was pristine, much the same to the rest of how he presented himself. He took down notes of what Ehren was telling him, nodding to say he understood. “Alright, so Dorian was there that evening. Logan bit the guard to help. Understandable to want to do something like that,” he agreed, nodding again.
In due time Roman would find Dorian. His family didn’t seem to take well to Roman’s presence so it would have to be outside of the residence.
“I’ll text him to see if he is free for a chat. It’d be nice to catch up now that he has free time.”
Eyes would lift. “Now, what else do you know that could potentially help your friend.”
The file beneath him was passed toward Ehren. “This is what I’ve been able to gather so far since you and I last talked. Inside you’ll find a few photographs taken from a bit of camera footage of the apartment - a bit of the notes from the evidentiary files from the scene.”
A hand would wave at the documents as if to tell Ehren to help himself.
He looked over the photos and files mentioned, noticing the fact that Logan had not left his apartment at all during that time. “This is evidence, wouldn’t this exonerate him?” He didn’t like the look of the conditions in that part of the facility. He was living in chains and filth and he looked so defeated. It would be ridiculous to suggest Ehren wasn’t falling for Logan and seeing him like that hurt him.
“If you need assistance getting in touch with Dorian…” he didn’t want to offer it, didn’t like the way Roman had talked about him when he suggested Ehren that wine but it was the best chance they had. “...I can try to help.” He didn’t even know if Dorian would answer him but Cas had taken him under his wing.
“It could,” Roman nodded, “but I believe the autopsy has not yet yielded any results that can determine time. And this crime doesn’t look like the work of a single person. What I’m trying to prove was that your friend, Mr. Bloodworth, wasn’t involved at all.
They needed more than just a few pictures. “What else can you tell me? Anything that could help when he’s up against the panel of judges?” This wasn’t run like a normal court, he wouldn’t be put before a jury of his peers. “We have to have solid, factual, undeniable evidence.” He grew a bit serious at that, tapping the desk with a finger. “If you want him to see daylight again. But it’s not just the panel we have to convince. The community is divided. We have to convince them, too. Or his life outside of here is going to be miserable.”
He didn’t need help reaching out to Dorian, but allowing Ehren to participate would assist in the divide that set them at odds. “Wonderful. Any help I can get makes this job easier.”
“So we have to wait for the results of the autopsy? Is it really necessary to keep him locked up? I thought people were innocent until proven guilty. Why not just post some guards at his door to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere unattended?” This seemed like a far more logical response than keeping him in that dirty cell.
When he was asked about his evidence he shook his head. There was no one to contact regarding his criminal records, and so he’d leave that be. “All I can say is that I was with him until three pm and he was in his human form.” Hopefully the timing would help, but he wouldn’t know for sure until much later.
He didn’t reply to the comment about Dorian because he was dreading the conversation. They hadn’t spoken since their first and last date and Ehren took some time to get over that.
Roman shook his head, “This island operates differently than they do outside,” he explained. “It would be the same reason you would detain someone on minor charges until you get them on something larger. Since this community is small, the Government does whatever it wants. So he will be incarcerated for the foreseeable future. I can get you more visiting hours if you’d like, in the meantime, however.” He figured throwing Ehren a bone once in a while was diplomatic.
Making the note of when Ehren had last seen and spoken to Logan, Roman nodded. “That will help with timeline establishment.”
Carefully he observed the expression on Ehren’s face. “If you’d rather I reach out to Dorian I’d be glad to do that. I can text him, see if he’s available.” A shoulder would shrug, “You know he came to me for help once, too,” Roman offered, “similar circumstances. I don’t know if you remember but his friend was falsely accused by the Government and spent a bit of time in jail.”
He didn’t know about Caspian’s jail time or that Dorian had gone through that. Maybe that was one of the reasons it didn’t work out, he had too much on his plate. “Do whatever you want, Roman. I’m not your lackey.” He hadn’t meant for it to be so rude, especially considering they had to work together. “I’m sorry, I mean if I makes your job easier than I will do it. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get him out of that place.”
And that was his first mistake. He’d just made himself vulnerable to Roman, the last person he wanted to be vulnerable in front of. He didn’t care, his favorite quote by William S. Burroughs said Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape and he needed change now.
“I would like some more time with him if possible, to see if I can figure out if there is absolute evidence of his innocence.” He replied, as cool as he could. Roman didn’t need to know exactly what was going on with them, the less he knew about that the better.
Roman blinked at the rudeness of the comment. Nothing was offered in a response, though his brow furrowed a touch and his expression flattened out. He didn’t mind the vulnerability, it delighted him to see it if he was being honest because of all of the crassness and disdain that usually came from Ehren. “No, I’d prefer to do it myself. But I’ll keep you posted.” A hand would wave dismissively at Ehren.
There were some things that would need to be done and footwork didn't matter much to him.
At mention of wanting more time - the offer extended earlier as on olive branch of sorts - Roman shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.” If Ehren was going to be rude about things when he was being as cordial and giving as possible, his interest in assisting would wane considerably. Even Dorian had to pique his interest when he was working the Caspian case.
Ehren was tired, desperate and hadn’t been sleeping and he was realizing now how that was affecting his mood. He sighed and pushed his fingers into his hair. Roman had extended a kind hand and he was honestly Logan’s only hope right now so Ehren felt bad that he’d been so unkind to him.
There had to be something about him that lured Dani into his grip, so maybe he wasn’t as bad as Ehren thought. He addressed Roman by looking into his eyes. “Thank you.” Two words he never thought he’d say to Roman Skye but it had to be done.
A nod would come.
“If there is anything else you can think of, I’ll hear it now. Otherwise I believe we can conclude for now. Updates of any kind I’ll make you aware of. Otherwise you’ll have to wait.” Probably impatiently, but that was fine with him.
The file was closed, albeit gently, as if to say silently he was finished with processing it. He would come back to it later when less pressing things were tended to. He could find about a dozen things more important to do just then than tackle a case for someone who clearly didn’t care.
Standing from his seat, Ehren extended his hand to shake Romans. It was the friendliest gesture he’d ever given the other man and he hoped he would take it as a peace offering. The truth was that Ehren cared a great deal, he would not have come to Roman unless he was desperate to release Logan. He couldn’t lose him, he didn’t have enough time with him.
“I’ll let you know if I find anything.” He replied, trying his best to end things on good terms. On this Island, things never seemed to go the way he wanted but he’d be damned if he didn’t fight for the future he wanted.
An exhale through his nose and Roman rose from his chair. A moment taken to straighten his suit and he extended his hand out to shake. They were at an impasse but Roman only had so much patience. “Thank you.”
Letting the other man go, he moved to settle down in the chair again. Things needed to be done and now the ball was in his court to serve or to leave for the next person willing to step up to the plate.