Leon Orcot (![]() ![]() @ 2021-02-17 21:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | deadly premonition: francis york morgan, psoh: leon orcot, resident evil: leon scott kennedy, veronica mars: veronica mars |
Who: The Leons Kennedy and Orcot, Veronica Mars, Francis York Morgan
What: Veronica and York meet the detective they'll be working with
When: February 1st, immediately after this log
Where: LVMPD Precinct
Ratings/Warnings: Discussion of a serial killer and murder
Status: Complete
Leon was never what one might call a ball of sunshine, but today he was extra irritated. It had been building up for the last couple of days, ever since he got word that his case, his case, was going to be given to the feds. Oh, sure, they’d ‘consult,’ whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, but they all knew what would really happen. He was standing, half-leaning against his desk, his back toward the precinct entrance.
“And then they’re just going to fucking swoop in her,” Orcot snarled at Kennedy, plunging his his arm in the air in front of him to illustrate how they’d swoop, the luke-warm coffee in his hand sloshing over the rim of his cop, “like some kind of fucking vulture, and they’ll make us do all the work and then they’ll take all the credit. Or worse, they’ll take over all together and we’ll be on our asses out in the cold.”
Leon had been a homicide detective for close to three years before, and this was hardly the first case he’d handed off to the FBI. It wasn’t something he really enjoyed much, though this time it stung a little extra. It was his first big case in Las Vegas, the one where he’d really be able to prove to the LVPD guys what he could do. And it had been he who had tied the four previously unconnected murders together in the first place. The idea of some hotshot from Washington coming in rankled.
Leon Scott Kennedy watched Leon Orcot as he ranted and raved about having his case taken away from him by some hotshots in Washington. In particular, he was eyeing the other man’s coffee cup wearily as he waved it around.
Kennedy hadn’t even gotten to his own desk before Orcot had started in on his rant. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten into work to find the other detective pissed off about something and to be fair, Kennedy understood where the other man was coming from. There was nothing quite as frustrating to be sidelined on your own case. Not that Kennedy had experienced that pleasure yet.
Though, right now he was more concerned about Orcot spilling the hot contents on his mug all over himself. Or, worse, onto Kennedy who had to get through the splash zone in order to get to his own desk. “Carefull, man,” he said, reaching out to steady the mug before it really did topple over onto Orcot’s desk. “I get it. It sucks. But you know, these guys specialize in serial killers. The important thing is that the killer is caught, right?”
Orcot frowned a little as Kennedy steadied his mug, but he supposed he had a point. In the making sure that Orcot didn’t spill his coffee everywhere department, not in the other department.
“Oh please,” Orcot scoffed. “Half these fed assholes wouldn’t know a serial killer from a puppy dog. Trust me, Kennedy, whatever kind of douchebag they send us, we’d be better off without them.”
Veronica had arrived at the station with York, although between the parking being pointed in the direction of the detective they were looking for, Veronica had some how lost him. She could already tell that this partnership was going to be interesting to say the least.
However she didn’t have much time to think about that, because as drew closer to Detective Orcot, she saw the resemblance to the guy she knew back in high school. His hair was longer but it was definitely him. And he was in the process of insulting her and well all federal agents in general to the other detective he was talking to who seemed a bit more level headed.
“Veronica Mars, asshole, douchebag federal agent at your service,” Veronica said with a smirk as a way of introducing herself waiting for Leon to fully turn around and see her. If she had overheard anyone else saying what Orcot had just said she would have had a much different reaction. But she couldn’t take Orcot seriously.
Leon did spill his coffee then, cursing slightly as he righted his cup, but his attention was soon pulled away from this spill to glance up at Veronica in mild disbelief. “Holy shit,” he said, his incredulous look slowly turning into a pleased grin. “Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to give you a badge? Are they kicking themselves yet?”
Kennedy had noticed the blonde woman coming up behind Orcot, but before he’d had the chance to warn him that maybe he should shut the hell up about federal agents, she’d already introduced herself. Kennedy winced slightly. Not the best first impression and would surely only make Orcot even more pissy than he was before.
So Orcot’s reaction when he turned around and saw the woman could be read clearly on Kennedy’s face. Talk about a 180! First Orcot was bitching and moaning about what assholes the feds were and now he looked downright happy to see this one.
“You know each other?” Kennedy asked, glancing between them. In all his ranting and raving, Orcot had conveniently left out the fact that he actually knew a “fed asshole” personally.
If Orcot wasn’t holding his coffee Veronica might have hugged him. And Veronica wasn’t exactly a hugger. But she wasn’t about to risk that coffee getting spilled on her. “You sure you aren’t talking about yourself there Leon?” Veronica questioned. Because really out of the two of them? She was the one more likely to end up in law enforcement. “What the hell are you doing here?” She went on. He was a long way from Beverly Hills after all. “Other than insulting my profession.”
She turned her attention to the other detective. “Leon and I go way back,” Veronica replied, holding out her hand to shake his. “Veronica,” she added, introducing herself again since her previous statement wasn’t exactly an introduction. “You must be the smart one around here.”
“My little brother lives up here,” Orcot said, rubbing the side of his head. “Figured I’d put in for a transfer so I could be a little closer.” Veronica had never met Chris, but, well, she’d been around when he’d been born. She knew the circumstances surrounding the whole thing, but he trusted Veronica to not go into it in front of Leon. Hell, he figured she probably wouldn’t get into it even if they were alone. Not that there was much to get into in the first place.
“This is Detective Kennedy,” Orcot said by way of introduction, and then turned to Kennedy. “Veronica and I went to high school together back in California. She always needed me to get her out of trouble,” he said, shooting her a toothy grin.
“You sure she wasn’t the one bailing your ass out?” Kennedy teased with a raised brow. He turned his attention to Veronica and took her offered hand. “Leon Kennedy,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.” It was a relief that the FBI agent turned out to be someone Orcot knew, and even better that it was someone he apparently had a good relationship with. It’d make the whole ordeal less messy and he wouldn’t feel as though Veronica was stealing his case from him. Kennedy hoped, anyway.
Veronica had only been around for a few months after Chris was born. She felt bad leaving Leon with everything he was going through, especially with how much he had been there for her the past few years. But she couldn’t exactly postpone college. It was her one shot at getting out of Beverly Hills. But it was something she did have regrets about. “I’m bet he’s happy to have you around,” she settled on saying. There was no need to rehash the past, especially the not so great parts. And definitely not in front of a coworker.
“Not quite how I remember it, Orcot.” Though it was true she did tend to get herself into trouble on cases from time to time. But Leon had gotten himself in plenty of trouble too. “Nice to meet you too,” she said, shaking Leon Kennedy’s hand. “You guys are lucky you’re in a profession where last names are the norm,” she commented. Because the two Leon thing could get confusing.
Orcot gave a bit of a half-grin at that. Chris was definitely happy to have him around, and cousins seemed happy enough to have him around - especially since Chris was. But Chris’ parents had never liked Leon, and they sure hadn’t warmed up to him now. They’d never ban Chris from seeing Orcot - especially not after they’d dropped him off at Orcot’s doorstop in LA a couple years ago - but they didn’t hide the fact that they thought Leon was a bad influence and wished he’d go back home.
“Yeah, go figure,” he said, shooting Kennedy a grin. “Go nearly twenty-five years without ever having met another Leon, and suddenly I’m working in the same department as one.”
“Same,” Kennedy said with a shrug. “Though it hasn’t been as confusing as I thought it’d be at first. At first I thought I was going to have to go by my middle name, but people seem to be able to tell which Leon they want most of the time.” It helped that the two men were drastically different from each other.
Anxious to keep things going in this positive direction, Kennedy motioned behind him towards the counter where the coffee maker was sitting, still with a half full pot of coffee. “I’m going to get some coffee. Do you want some, Veronica?”
“That’d be great, thanks.” She briefly wondered if she should ask him to grab some for York too but who knew where he went or when he would be back. So he could just be without coffee. Once Kennedy walked off Veronica turned her attention back to Orcot.
“So,” she began. “We will have to get a drink at some point.” She did want to catch up with him. But right now her focus was on the case. “But first, you want to tell me what you know?”
“Me too,” Leon called after Kennedy. He’d be mildly annoyed if Kennedy didn’t return with something for him too.
He was still a little stunned that out of all the Feds in the country, they gave him Veronica, but she brought him back to reality pretty quick. “Right,” he said, and swung into his desk. He unlocked one of the drawers and pulled it open. It was a disorganized mess, but he knew exactly where his file was among all the clutter.
“Don’t you guys normally like, travel in pairs, or flocks or something?” he said, frowning up at Veronica.
“You know where the coffee maker is,” Kennedy grunted back over his shoulder. “Besides, you still have a full cup, or did you spill it all when you were ranting and raving earlier?”
It was that moment that Special Agent Morgan entered the police station. His suit was a little rumbled and he was straightening his tie. He caught sight of Veronica quickly with who he assumed to be their contact. He quickly made his way over to them, pulling out his badge as he did. “Good morning,” he greeted the detective. “I’m Special Agent Francis York Morgan. Please, just call me York.” He held up his badge for Leon to see. “I’m sorry I’m late, I had something I wanted to check out.”
Veronica liked Kennedy already. Especially the way he put Orcot in his place. She had taken on that role back in the day, it was nice that someone else was stepping up in her absence.
Flocks? “We aren’t birds, Orcot,” Veronica replied with an eye roll just as her missing partner suddenly appeared. Jesus was Orcot psychic now? She raised a brow at York’s explanation. What the hell did he have to check out without her? She didn’t comment on it, although she might later. But for now she just did the whole introduction thing. “This is Leon Orcot,” she told York. “He might actually be a decent detective,” she said with a small smirk. While her tone was joking she did mean it. At least if he was half as good as he had been back in high school.
Leon frowned a little, taking the agent in as he shook his hand. As far as first impressions went, he wasn’t really sure what to make of him. Since he was with Veronica, Leon would give him the benefit of the doubt - though, from Veronica’s raised eyebrow, he wasn’t sure if he should. “Nice to meet you,” Leon said once Veronica had introduced him.
“That compliment felt a little back-handed, V,” Leon said, shooting a not-quite-serious glare in Veronica’s direction. “I’ll show you decent detective.
Veronica’s comment about Leon Orcot potentially being a decent detective caused a bit of a brow raise. So far, she had been nothing but serious, so hearing her tone -- seeing her smirk -- was a little jarring. York got the impression that there was something going on he wasn’t privy to. A familiarity, perhaps. Well, that might make things easier. Then again, it may make them more complicated. Either way, things were going to get interesting.
“I’m glad to meet you, Detective Orcot,” York said. “I’m looking forward to working with you and your department.” He gestured towards Veronica as he spoke. “Unfortunately, Agent Mars and I are coming in with a bit of a handicap. The case file provided to us didn’t provide much outside of a general overview of the killings. Since you were the detective who finally linked the cases together, I’d like to hear the details that lead you to that conclusion.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Leon said. “I mean, there’s the obvious, right? They got strangled and tossed in dumpsters, but that’s no big deal. People get strangled and tossed in dumpsters every fucking time. The bruising’s kinda similar on all of them,” he said, pulling out four different photos that zoomed in on the bruising around their neck. “But again, big fucking deal, right? That’s just the dressing on the shit salad.
“So anyway, we’ve got Robin Clarke. She’s the victim I was originally assigned. Found out back of Freddy’s Can’t-Cook-a-Fucking-Steak-Right-to-Save-H
Which… wasn’t all that different from Leon’s fridge right now, if he was being honest, but Leon tried to cook when he had time. He just… generally didn’t have a lot of time.
“But get this. Her last meal? It was fucking kobe beef, washed down with a Cabernet Sauvignon and followed up with some kinda fancy chocolate cake,” he said, pulling out her autopsy results. “She didn’t even have time to digest it. That’s fucking weird, right?” He waited for a beat, and the continued. “Right.
“It didn’t sit with me right, so I started digging around. So we’ve got Max Gentry, found at, and apparently regular at, The Rusty Spoon, which is a restaurant that lives up to its name in every sense of the word. Last meal? Paella and some sorta creme brulee. Ethan Townsend? Found and ate at Cheeseburger Baby - worst cheeseburgers in town, by the way. Last meal? Salmon with a beurre blanc sauce and fruit tarts. Yasmine Mendoza? Found and ate at The Diner Train, last meal, a lobster bisque and some poached pairs.
“Not too bad, huh?” he asked, grinning at Veronica and leaning back in his seat.
Though Veronica tried to hide it, there was a hint of a proud smile on her face. That wasn’t exactly the most obvious connection, but Leon had made it. She had taught him well. It still amazed her that he had actually become a cop himself, but there was no denying that he was good at it,
“Not bad,” Veronica agreed and that was about as much of a compliment he was going to get from her. Well other than the decent detective comment she had already made.
“You know I’ve worked on a lot of cases before. But this is a first. Forcing people with bad food habits to eat a gourmet meal and then killing them? I wonder if the unsub is some type of aspiring chef.” That got rejected most likely.
“Possibly,” York said thoughtfully, though it was still too early to draw profiling conclusions. He picked up one of the photos Detective Orcot had laid out and studied it. After a moment, he picked up another. The bruising on the necks of the two victims were strikingly similar. The third and fourth photos also showed similar bruising on the necks. York’s eyes narrowed. Had these victims all been found in the same jurisdiction, it would have been likely that a connection would have been made much earlier. York doubted that the killer purposefully dumped his victims in these locations as a way to avoid detection. Food was definitely a factor, but was it a motivating factor? Or were the locations themselves significant?
He raised his eyes to Detective Orcot again. “You mentioned that Robin Clarke was not doing well financially, which is why she was a regular at the steak house. What about the other victims? Were they also financially unstable?”
It might have been a couple years, but Leon knew Veronica well enough to know that ‘not bad’ was practically the same as her singing his praises, and he all but preened at it.
“That, or he’s a pissed off food critic that’s choked up about people eating bad steak,” Leon said, with a bit of a grin. He didn’t actually believe that particular theory, but, “Let me tell you, I thought about murdering a couple people when I had to pay for a medium-well steak.”
He frowned a little at York’s question, then shrugged. “Listen, no one eats at these kinds of places because of the dining experience,” he said, shrugging. “But it wasn’t like they were all poor. Townsend and Mendoza both had decent jobs. Townsend liked fast cars more than he liked not getting food poisoning, evidently, and who knows what happened to Mendoza’s money. In a town like this, I’d guess gambling.”
Veronica couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Leon’s pun, though there was a bit of a smile on her face. She had almost forgotten how much she missed Leon. Working this case with him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
“You have files on the victims?” Veronica asked Leon getting down to business. “You got a place where we can all sit and go through them?”
York glanced between Veronica and Detective Orcot. Again, he was struck with the idea that there was a familiarity between them. Veronica seemed a bit more relaxed talking with Leon than she had earlier that morning. And for his part, Detective Orcot seemed just as willing to work with them now that he knew that Veronica was one of the FBI agents assigned to the case. York was starting to feel something like a fifth wheel.
“Serial killers typically have a ‘type’,” he said, more so thinking allowed than attempting to explain something both of his colleagues were likely more than aware of (at least he hoped they both were). Sometimes it was just better to speak one’s thoughts aloud to get them in order. “Apparently, we can start the list of significant victim traits with ‘poor dining taste’.” Though, so far that seemed to be the only thing linking them, which struck York as both odd and unnerving.
He agreed with Veronica, they needed to go through the other files. He turned his eyes towards Leon. “I agree with Veronica, if we have some time to review the files, we’ll probably learn more. At some point, I’d like to visit the dump sites as well.”
“If you want, I can take us all to Freddy’s right now,” Leon said, glancing at his watch. The traffic wasn’t the best for driving right now, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. If they got caught in a jam, it would give Veronica and York time to shift through the files.
As necessary as it was to go over files, Veronica much preferred being in the field. So it was an easy choice for her. “Grab the files,” she told Leon. “We can look them over on the way.” She didn’t think it would be enough time for them to really get into them all, but it would at least give them an idea. Hopefully York was fine with her decision. But given that he had brought up going to the dumpster she had a feeling he would be.
York was fine with the decision. He and Veronica could always look over the files on their own time as well. He nodded at Veronica and then turned his gaze onto Leon. “Lead the way, Detective Orcot.”