Grasping at Straws
Characters: Brady and Matt Setting: Library
If there was one thing that Brady was starting to realize, it was that he hadn’t really thought through his bid to be on the law enforcement team. He’d wanted it because he’d wanted to do his part in keeping the people here that he already cared about safe. What he hadn’t thought through on it was that he would need to essentially be a cop. He didn’t know how to be a cop or what questions he was supposed to be asking, but he was damn determined to try, to do his best at this.
And so, when he’d got the message from Jae suggesting that either he or Aaron should take another crack at questioning Matt, he’d waffled for a few minutes before deciding to go for it. Should he really be doing this considering his connection to Edan, and Edan’s interest in Matt? Not that the girl was talking to him about much of anything lately - he had a feeling she was avoiding him, though he wasn’t really dwelling on it.
Brady decided to not contact Matt before looking for him, thinking it might be better for it to be an impromptu interview. Figuring the place with the greatest odds of finding him would be the library, that’s where he headed. Pushing the door open, Brady went inside and glanced around, seeing if he could find the librarian without having to call out to him.
As it so happened, Matt wasn’t in there at that moment but, fortunately for Brady, he was heading in that direction having not long left the gym, work out clothes clinging to him where he had sweated through them, chest still heaving a little from the exertion of a prolonged run on the treadmill. It wasn’t something he did often and it was the first time since coming to the facility he had felt the urge to, craving the distraction that he found only came with punishing physical exertion. The strange unsettled feeling that had dogged him the day before had still clung to him when he’d woken up and it had only increased when, on going to find Edan, he had found her room empty. Confusion was quickly joined by frustration, neither being feelings he relished, and so he had sought out the reprieve that came with running before anger had the chance to join them.
Unfortunately the attempt had only been marginally successful so after a quick detour to the kitchen for a drink and a snack, he decided to find a new book to read, hoping it would prove more of a distraction than the run had wound up being. Needless to say, he didn’t expect to see Brady in the library when he pulled open the door and frowned as he made to walk around the older man towards the fiction section, hardly in the mood for conversation.
It wasn’t long before the person he’d been waiting for walked in, and Brady could admit that he was surprised to see Matt in the sweaty workout clothes. The guy hadn’t struck him as the kind to like a good workout, but what did he really know about him? Not much. “Hey, just the guy I was looking for,” he said by way of greeting as Matt went to walk around him. “I’d like a few minutes of your time.” He could be polite, try to think and act like a cop even if he was literally just winging it.
His tone may have been polite but Brady’s choice of words were an instant red flag and Matt frowned, not making any move to stop as he carried on towards his intended section of the library. “Can’t it w..w..wait until later? Now is really not the best time,” he said, glancing back at the other man with what he hoped was an apologetic expression.
Brady resisted snorting, but just barely, giving a small shake of his head. “Not really, it’s kind of important. What’s wrong with now?” he asked, wondering if Matt might tell him anything. Really, in this place, he didn’t really see anything that should keep him from having a conversation right now.
“Well for starters, I’m in somewhat pressing need of a shower. Unlike some people, I don’t enjoy standing around in sweaty clothes,” he pointed out, arriving at the shelves he’d been aiming for. “Secondly, I’m n...n...not really in the mood for conversation.” He started to trace his fingers across the spines of the books, letting the familiar texture soothe him a little. “What’s so important that it can’t wait until later?”
Defensive much? Brady thought with a quirked brow. Being the suspicious man that he was, he couldn’t help but wonder if Matt just had something to hide. “And yet you came to the library rather than getting that shower first,” he countered, trying to keep his tone level and amiable enough. “So clearly not that pressing.” Not to be deterred, Brady followed Matt through the shelves. “Mood or not, it can’t really wait, sorry,” he reiterated. This was incredibly important, and he thought it was imperative to find out if Matt was guilty of something. “I need to go ask you a few things for some ongoing cases we have,” he explained.
Matt didn’t feel the need to explain his reasons to Brady, instead just murmured “Touche,” as he tugged a copy of ‘Les Miserables’ free from the shelf. Letting out a small sigh, he turned around to face Brady and offered him a wan smile. “Anything to help our newly appointed law enforcers with their work,” he said, gesturing towards the nearby table and chairs before heading towards them himself and taking a seat.
Ah, points for cooperation, Brady thought with some relief. He still hadn’t really figured out how to play this whole cop thing, and some measure of cooperation could only be a good thing. “Thanks,” he replied, heading over to the table and chairs Matt had motioned toward. “Now, could you please go through your motions during the blackout? Where you were when the lights went out through the rest of the night,” he requested. A part of him wanted to ask about even further back, to the night Meg was assaulted, but he’d promised that he’d leave it to her for the time being, and cop or no, he wasn’t going to go back on that.
“I’ve gone through this already with Jae,” Matt said with a frown. “So I fail to see what else you’re hoping to learn by asking questions I’ve already answered.”
Brady couldn’t really say that he was surprised by the resistance. Hell, if he were on the other side of this, he’d probably have said something similar. Still, he had a job to do, and he was going to do it. “Then it’s a good thing you don’t need to see what I’m hoping to learn. It’s important, so please - starting with where you were when the lights went out,” he re-prompted, and he was rather proud of himself for keeping the level tone.
He may have kept his tone level but condescending turn of phrase did little to endear him to Matt who resisted the urge to sigh, instead settle for scrubbing his hands through his hair which had the unfortunate side effect of sending it sticking out in all directions, giving the overall impression that he had just stuck his fingers in an plug socket. “I was here,” he replied, not bothering to look at Brady as he spoke, instead letting his head fall back a little. “Trying to wrap my head around what books had been burnt in the courtyard. I had an altercation maybe an hour afterwards with Pippa which I do not intend to go into details about again, after which I returned to my room and no, there isn’t anyone who can verify that I’m afraid.”
Well that was a pretty general summing up of Matt’s night, and while a little annoying, Brady wasn’t surprised by it. The fact that he didn’t want to go into details about his altercation with Pippa just made Brady wonder if there was more to it than he’d told Jae. It would probably be antagonistic to press about it right now, but he really wanted to. “Alright, what about when you were on your way to your room? Did you happen to see anyone at all?” From what he knew about Matt, he was very observant, so if he was telling the truth and had been in his room the whole night, it was entirely possible that he’d seen something along the way there that could possibly help them. And if he was resistant to even this line of questioning, he figured it would be an indication that he might have more to hide.
Grateful not to be pressed regarding the Pippa issue, Matt felt able to relax slightly, trusting himself to look at Brady as he considered the older man’s question. “The courtyard was clear when I made my way upstairs and I didn’t cross paths with anyone either, I think the storm kept pretty much everyone to their rooms.” Not everyone though, the memory of Edan’s room lying empty and her nowhere to be found weighing heavy on his mind. “There were some people in the spiritual room but I didn’t stop to see who it was.”
It would seem he was doing something right, Brady figured when he noticed Matt relax just a bit and look at him. He nodded slowly as he answered, his mind bouncing around as he tried to mentally organize whatever questions he should be asking. Pushing his chair back from the table a bit, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at Matt intently. “Look man, you’re one of the most observant people here.” He had little doubt about that. “I know it was storming and a lot of people were probably in their rooms or stranded on the other block or between them, but anything you might have noticed on the way could help. This ain’t for kicks; there’s a rapist here, and we’ve gotta figure out who it is so we can make sure he doesn’t do it again,” he emphasized, trying to press Matt to think real hard about something he might have noticed without realizing it.
“I’m aware of how high the stakes are Brady,” Matt replied, an undercurrent of anger bubbling through his voice. “And if I had anything to tell you I would but the simple fact is that I don’t and it pains me to admit that.” He prided himself on paying attention to his surroundings, on knowing what was happening amongst his fellow residents and knowing that he had failed in an instance where it couldn’t have been more useful genuinely pained him.
Brady considered him with narrowed eyes, ignoring the instinct to get riled up by the anger in Matt’s tone. “Are you? Because I’m not so sure you are. What if it was Edan? If we don’t find out who did this, she could be next. Take me through it again, and this time give me as many details as you can remember.” He’d just generalized things the first time through, and Brady rather thought he needed more than that, and it would probably be good to see just how well his story now matched the one he’d told Jae before.
The mention of Edan brought a dark look crashing over Matt’s face and his grip on the book he was still holding visibly tightened. “Don’t do that,” he said quietly through barely gritted teeth. “Don’t invoke her name like some kind of incentive because believe me, if it had been Edan who had been hurt...” He closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax his hold on the volume in his hands before he damaged it and take a breath before opening them again to meet Brady’s gaze head on. “There’s a reason I’m in prison Brady and you do not want to see a repetition of what brought me here so be careful what you say.”
There was a large appreciation and maybe even a bit of pride at Matt’s reaction, though Brady tried hard to keep his own expression utterly neutral. He wasn’t the best at it, but he was successful for the most part. The thought that it could have been Edan made his own blood boil, so he understood the anger exuding from Matt. He stayed quiet, waiting the other man out, and at the warning, he quirked a brow. “And just what are you in for?” he asked directly. He’d combed through things in his time here and was well aware that Matt hadn’t owned up in any public forum.
“I caved in a man’s skull with a baseball bat,” Matt said simply, his expression largely neutral though behind his eyes, there were traces of something other though what exactly would have been impossible to determine. It was abundantly clear however that it was something he held no regret for and even less remorse.
Because he was the type to just look at what was in front of him, all Brady saw was the neutrality and lack of regret and remorse. It churned his stomach a bit, but he had to ask at least one more thing about it. “Why?”
That small question brought forth the emotion so lacking from his answer to the one that had preceded it, Matt’s eyes turning glassy as memories rose, a tremor creeping into his voice. “Because he destroyed my best friend and the moment I saw what he did to her...there was no going back for either of us.”
Ah, and there. That was what he’d needed to see, that Matt wasn’t a heartless psychopath. And yet, the man was continuing to prove that he wasn’t one to give details without prompting. Of course, it wasn’t entirely surprising, just a little annoying. “What did he do to her?” he asked, his tone almost gentle even as it was prompting.
“Do I l...l..ook like I want to talk about this Brady?!” Matt said, making no effort to conceal his agitation as he shoved his chair back from the table and stood up. “It’s nothing to do with you and n....n....nothing to do with what’s happened here so please just b...back off!”
Well fuck, how the hell had he screwed that one up? Brady’s brows rose as Matt pushed back from the table. Instead of backing off, though, he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table in front of him. “Look man, I get it - defending your friend then and not wanting to talk about it now, but it’s important.” He held up his hands then in the universal sign of surrender. “But you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Let’s go back to the night of the blackout. You were here when the lights went out, and when you left - which stairwell did you take up to the second floor?” He had to keep asking questions, even if he was beginning to think he’d got all that he was going to out of Matt.
“Why the hell is it important because I totally fail to see the relevance!” Matt snapped, clearly agitated as he ran a hand through his hair, clutching at it slightly. “But what I did in the blackout? Fine. I took the stairs by the pool then along the balcony that runs past the spiritual room. My room is one on the corner so really it makes no difference which route I take.”
He’d already moved on from that, so Brady didn’t even acknowledge the outburst. He listened instead to the answer, taking note of the extra little detail. Sure, it was what he’d asked for, but he hadn’t been sure Matt would bother answering. “Okay, and you didn’t see, hear, or notice anyone else about other than that there were people in the spiritual room?” he asked as if hoping that some forgotten thing would have been remembered in the time they’d been going over it all.
Practically on the verge of throwing something at the older man, regardless of how bad idea he knew it was, it was a blessing that the only things within reach were books and regardless of how frustrated he was, Matt didn’t have it in him to risk damaging one of them. So instead he paced, a dismissal on the tip of his tongue when suddenly something occurred to him and he stopped, glancing back at Brady. “I did catch sight of someone walking along the opposite stretch of the balcony just after I passed the spiritual room,” he said, racking his brain for any details. “It was too dark to make anything out about them but they were heading in the direction of the stairwell.”
Brady let Matt pace, staying put at the table as his eyes tracked his movements. His quiet patience paid off when after a minute of pacing, Matt did give him something new. “Yeah, I get that it would’ve been difficult to notice much of anything with the blackout and the storm, but what about just a general size? Did they seem larger? Broad? Small and slim?” he asked. He knew he probably wouldn’t get much more, but he was really hoping for that at least.
“It was dark Brady, really the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I saw m....m....movement.” Matt let out a sigh of frustration, this time directed at himself more than anything. “I would venture that they were on the tall side judging by the fact I was able to see them at all, other than that...” He gave a small shrug. “I’m sorry I can’t offer you more than that.”
The only response to the returned stutter was a quirked brow. Brady wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t anything more Matt could tell him about whoever he’d seen, but it had been worth asking, he thought. “Tall, alright.” He filed it away, doubting that it would get them anywhere, but knowing it would have to go into the report regardless. The more details they had from that night, the greater the odds of finding out who’d hurt the girl. “Nah, don’t stress it. Every little bit helps, but don’t freak out if someone needs to talk it through with you again. There’s only so much we can do, and we’re trying,” he explained as he stood up. Yeah, they were trying, even if it felt like all they were doing was grasping at straws.
Matt bobbed his head in understanding, already starting to feel embarrassed by his earlier outburst when it was clear that Brady really was invested in getting to the bottom of what had happened. “I undersst..t...tand,” he said, ducking forward to reclaim his book from the table, already starting to make a move towards the door. “But if you don’t have anything to ask, I’m going to go now if that’s alright?”
Brady gave one short nod of his head. “Yeah, we’re square for right now.” He thought about the cop shows, how they’d tell a person of interest not to go far, to stay available or whatever, and couldn’t help the amused thought that there was no point in saying that here. Whoever had done this was probably still here, and unless they administration pulled them out, they probably weren’t going anywhere.