Chapter Text
The drive to the police station holding Hayley Rose was short but tense as they settled into silence, occasionally penetrated by the wail of the sirens. As the station comes into view, Dave pulls over into one of the parking spaces, then flips the sirens off and unlocks the car. They both step out into the crisp cool air of the night.
Sam turns to him: “Ready?”
Dave nods, “As ready as I’ll ever be. Lead the way, Marshal.”
They both jog up the stairs to the station and quickly flash their badges to the officer standing guard there. He nods at them, and radios: “Captain Beckham, they’re here”, before opening the door and leading them inside.
As they walk through the hallway, Sam takes in the mess the station has been reduced to - to her left, officers were escorting a line of criminals in custody to be transported to another station. To her right, some officers were chatting amongst themselves, some were on the phone reporting the situation, all wearing matching expressions of shock and horror. They reach Captain Beckham who’s standing in front of Hayley’s cell, where a few technicians are taking photographs and collecting evidence from the cell. Sam takes a quick look at the decapitated body, and sucks in a sharp breath - even with all her years of experience, it’s never easy to look at a victim, especially one that has been murdered in such brutal fashion.
Captain Beckham has her signature frown and stern look on her face, but Sam notices her eyes are more tired than when they started the case. She turns to address them:
“Reyes, Massey - thanks for coming. Massey, I know we said we’ll have you on the first flight back to Texas-“
“Don’t worry about it, Captain”, Sam replies, “When I said Tull was my responsibility, I meant that for all the Tulls. Do we have any leads so far?”
“Not yet. I’m having my technicians dig up the CCTV, but after you two escorted Hayley here, she’s only been talking to her lawyer. He left a few hours ago, and Hayley was found dead when one of the officers came by to bring her dinner. Autopsy said she’s been dead for roughly an hour.”
“Jesus”, Dave swipes a hand down his face, “do we know where the lawyer is? If he was the last person to see her alive, he might have an idea of whoever wanted Hayley dead.”
“His name is Matthew Haines, specializes in criminal law. I’m having people bring him to Central for questioning.”
Captain Beckham darts her eyes between Sam and Dave, “Look, I know you two have been through a lot. But I’ve just gotten the mayor off my back for a serial killing fugitive yesterday. Now both he and the press are gonna be breathing down my neck for the brutal murder of said fugitive’s daughter, his accomplice, and who also happens to be the most popular pop star in Tinseltown right now. So I need you two to both play by the books.” She fixes Sam with a hard stare. “Especially you, Massey. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for what you’ve done, but your…. unconventional methods will not bode well with this case. This is my department’s reputation on the line, here.”
“Noted, chief. By the book.” Sam shoots Dave a quick look, as the latter ducks and pretends he hasn’t been smirking through Beckham’s reprimand. His phone rings in his pockets, and he mutters a “Hello?” as he quickly walks away to answer it.
Captain Beckham nods at Sam, “Good. Now if you’ll both excuse me, I have to go prepare for the press report. Got one hell of a day ahead of us.”
Dave returns to the cell as Beckham walks away, his mouth pressed into a hard line.
“Well?”, Sam quirks, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Reza called, he just finished analyzing the CCTV. Hayley’s cell was a corner cell, which was partially blocked to the camera.”
“Damn it”, Sam curses, “does that mean we got nothin’?”
“Not quite. It couldn’t catch everything, but it did catch somebody coming to her cell after her lawyer left. A guy in a janitor outfit.” He swallows, then glances at Sam, “you’re not going to like this, Sam.”
“What do you mean, I’m not going to like this? Who’s the guy?”
“Reza and Nikhil are still working on it, but…based on what we recovered of his face and tattoos from the few seconds as he walked by, it’s…”, Dave sucks in a deep breath, “…John Tull.”