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Kurt is in the middle of counting the ceiling tiles when Detective Morrissey struts in. Arrogant little bastard, he thinks as he watches the other man pull out the only other chair in the room. He turns it around and sits down, straddling it. He lays an arm across its back, resting his chin in the palm of his hand and plasters a 'let's be friends' look on his face.
"So, Kurt. May I call you Kurt?" he entreats.
Kurt lets his attention drift over to him and the detective finds himself gazing into a pair of eyes that were dark and unreadable. Doubt that he may prove to be more difficult to break than he first thought begins to nibble at his mind.
"Mr. McVeigh" He corrects in a voice flat and devoid of any emotion.
"I'm sorry. Mr. McVeigh," he says smoothly. "Why don't you tell me what went down between you and James Hill. I'm sure when you are done, we'll both know that it was self defense on your part."
"Nothing went down between us. I didn't kill the man," He says with conviction.
Morrissey clucks his tongue at him. "Now, Mr. McVeigh, we both know that's not true. Here's what I'm thinking. I think your testimony failed to help put away a murderer, and as a result you took matters into your own hands."
He pauses, waiting for a response. He's eager to hear the yarn he is going to spin for him and is looking forward to picking it apart thread by thread until he gets the confession he wants. The look on his face when he realizes that he has him is going to be priceless. But Kurt isn't playing along; he just gazes at him with disinterested eyes.
The silence in the small room grows thicker and thicker with each passing second. Morrissey begins to fidget while Kurt sits completely still; there isn't even the sound of the handcuffs rubbing against the table. After several minutes have passed, the detective can't take it anymore.
"Well?" he demands, peevishly.
Kurt blinks lazily. "Well what?" He asks in a bland voice.
"What's your take on it?" he asks in annoyance.
He lets his eyes go wide with surprise. "What's my take on it?" He repeats his question.
"Yes," he almost growls at him.
Kurt mentally smiles. Diane was right. The fool would break himself if he didn't utter a word.
Kurt sits back in the chair as far as he can with his hands cuffed to the table. "Here's my take. I didn't kill him. Period."
Morrissey stares at him and he returns it without blinking. That is not the answer he expected. Kurt watches in amusement, a smile tugging at his lips, as the detective's face slowly turns red as his temper begins to boil. Idly, he wonders how long it would be before he saw steam coming out his ears. Irritated, he shoots to his feet, shoves the chair to one side and slams his hands down on the table. If he thought he could startle him, he was wrong. Kurt didn't move a muscle.
"I'm not going to play mind games with you, Kurt," he says in a threatening voice. "We have enough evidence to nail your ass to the wall."
Kurt arches an eyebrow skeptically. "Is that so?"
Morrissey's face turns a deeper shade of red. "We have your prints and blood at the scene."
"Planted," He says dismissively.
"We have a witness who is willing to testify that you purchased a weapon."
"Easily bribed," He counters, but can't resist tossing in, "And that sounds pretty reliable, especially with my choice of career. I didn't know ballistics experts used guns."
Morrissey narrows his eyes. When had he lost control of this interrogation? It feels like it's Kurt interrogating him. "There is video of you in the hotel the night of the murder."
Kurt shrugs. "Video surveillance can be tampered with."
Morrissey is growing more frustrated by the minute. "At this very moment we are executing a search warrant on your home and are checking all the dumpsters within a five block radius of the hotel for your bloody clothes. Once we find them and prove it's Hill's blood, we'll have you dead to right."
"Again. Planted."
He changes tactics and returns to pretending to be his best friend. "Mr. McVeigh, lets stop this dance," he says in a conciliatory tone. "Why don't you simply confess that you killed him? I'm sure we can work out a deal with the DA so that you don't have to spend the rest of your life behind bars. What do you say we do this?"
Kurt knows he's gotten all he's going to get out of Morrissey, and he decides that he's spoken enough. He returns to his stoic facade. It's time to put a stop to this farce. "I'm growing bored with you. I would like to talk to someone more interesting…my lawyer."
The friendly smile on Morrissey's face fades. "We don't need to involve a lawyer. This is something we can work out between us."
Kurt's eyes harden. "Didn't you hear me, Detective Morrissey? This little chitchat is over. I want my lawyer."
Morrissey debates getting into a staring match with him, but his gut tells him he would lose. He breaks eye contact, spins on his heels and glares at the officer still standing silently by the door throughout the interview. "Take him to booking," he orders and storms out.
"Yes, Sir."
Diane's been pacing the hallway for the past two hours. Kurt's still inside the interrogation room and Morrissey is in and out nonstop. Her phone is in her hand as she waits to hear something back from Kalinda.
All she knows so far is that James Hill murdered a family in their home and Kurt was brought in to testify, only for the lunatic to be found not guilty. And somehow the bastard ends up dead with Kurt being their main suspect.
She sighs and drops into a seat next to a desk, resting her forehead against her palm.
"This can't be happening." She whispers to herself, hoping that when she opens her eyes everything will just be a nightmare. Except when she does open her eyes the nightmare only gets worse. "Hey!"
She gets up and hurries towards the officer with Kurt by his side. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Booking him in, Diane." Morrissey answers from behind and she turns to look at him.
"He has the right to an attorney, do you even know your rights?" She asks him, appalled.
"Course I do."
"Then give him his rights." Diane demands and glares at him. Morrissey looks at the other officer and nods.
"I want a private meeting with my client. No cameras, mirrors, tapes, no officers present."
"Now, Diane-"
"Attorney client privilege, Anthony." She turns away, knowing she's in the right. She turns and looks towards another officer, one she hasn't seen interacting with Morrissey all day. "Have you got a private room for my client and I to talk?"
"Right this way," He nods and Diane reaches for Kurt.
"Uncuff him," She orders, but Morrissey objects.
"Oh come on-"
"I will not talk to my client whilst you disregard him like this. I would like to speak to my client without the cuffs." She motions to the younger officer who is unsure at first, but when Morrissey has no further argument he does as told. "Thank you."
Diane cocks her head for Kurt to walk ahead of her, but Morrissey grabs her elbow and jerks her back.
"You're pushing your boundaries here, Diane."
"And you're not?" She retorts sarcastically as she yanks her elbow out of his grasp and nods at Kurt to continue walking to the room appointed to them.
Once inside the room, Diane sits opposite Kurt at the table.
"You're representing me?"
"I'm not decided yet. I feel like I'm too connected to the case, but being connected at this level is also an advantage, so I'm thinking about it." She nods.
"You don't have to spend the night here."
"Are you kidding? You sleep here I sleep here." She places her hand over his and squeezes it gently, but suddenly her playful sense is gone and she pulls her hand back, opens her bag and pulls out a slip of paper. "Your arraignment is in four days. I'm going to have a closer look at the evidence and then I'll decide whether I should defend you or be a witness on your behalf. If I represent you I'll see if I can speed it up so you don't have to stay here any longer than two days. But right now, they have DNA, a witness, a receipt showing you purchased a new gun, the same make and model of the weapon used to kill Hill, and proof you checked into the same hotel as Hill the night of his murder."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying they have a pretty solid case. All they need is a confession and they'll take you to court immediately. We need to answer each assumption with an honest answer."
"I'm not confessing to something I didn't do."
"And I won't let you,"
"Okay," He sighs.
"They'll ask you questions relating to their evidence. Answer my question like you're on the witness stand, okay?"
He nods.
"Why were you at the hotel."
"We spent the night at The Westin after we had dinner there."
"When did you buy the gun?"
"Five weeks ago, for the Stoke's case."
"Good, mention the case. They'll look into that and they'll know you have a solid reason for purchasing the weapon. The witness."
"Someone obviously saw us at the restaurant or saw us in the lobby or somewhere and mistook me for whoever is on that tape."
"Okay. The-"
A knock on the door interrupts them and they silence. A young officer steps in and Morrissey follows.
"We found some clothes in a dumpster a mile away from the hotel."
"And?" Diane asks, standing up, discreetly sliding the slip of paper up her sleeve. Kurt notices this immediately and he looks from her hand to her, then at Morrissey.
"The DNA matches that of James Hill." Morrissey says with a smug half grin.
"What has that got to do with my client?"
"They match the clothes Mr. McVeigh was wearing that night. We can tell by video footage."
"Do you honestly think he would be that stupid and dump evidence a mile away from a crime scene?" Diane tries to reason, but it does nothing.
"We'll be booking Mr. McVeigh now, and we'll be transferring him to MCC in the morning."
Diane looks at Kurt, fear readable in her eyes but she wills it away. She needs to be strong for him, because right now no matter what he says will be discarded unless it's a confession.
"I request a moment alone with my client."
"Time's up, Di-"
"My meeting with my client is not over, Mr. Morrissey. I didn't pull him out of your interrogation, I would appreciate the same respect from you." Her eyes are cold and ruthless, just like her voice.
"Five minutes." He backs down after sharing a glare with her, then leaves the room with the other officer.
Diane sits down immediately. "Who do you want defending you here Kurt? I can recommend some names, but I don't know if you'll like them."
"I want you."
Diane meets his eyes and inhales. "Kurt. Most judges won't allow the attorney to testify, if it comes down to my testimony, I can't give it if I'm defending you."
"Diane, just defend me to your best ability. That's all I want." His tone causes her to give in, and she exhales the breath she's been holding.
"Alright. I'm going to see if I can get your arraignment brought forward. No doubt MCC will have convicts you helped put away and that cannot be good."
"Thank you," He sighs, and reaches out to grab both her hands in his. He notices the slip of paper but keeps silent about it. It's then he realizes she's beginning to tear up.
"I'll be at the pri.." She stops and swallows, blinking back the tears stinging at her eyes. She looks up, trying to repair her strong front for him. "Prison in the morning."
"Hey, I don't want you thinking bad, you hear me?"
"I'm not letting them lock you up in a cage for the rest of your life." She says, making an O shape with her lips as she breathes out, that strong front and lawyer mode coming back again.
"There's the woman I know."
She manages a small smile. "I'll find whoever's doing this Kurt, I promise you."
"I know you will."
Another knock on the door signifies that their time together is over. They both stand up and Diane can feel the bile rise in her throat. Here she is watching her husband being tossed around and accused of being a murderer. A feeling of hopelessness comes over her.
"I love you. They won't get away with this." She promises, and places a kiss on his lips, then wraps her arms around his neck.
"I know. I love you, too." He places a kiss on her hairline and lets his arms fold around her, until the door swings open and a cocky Morrissey walks in.
"Alright alright lets get a move on." He raises his voice and Diane moves her lips to his ear.
"Don't open your mouth." She whispers and Kurt nods.
She pulls back and winces as she watches the cuffs being replaced on Kurt's wrists. She follows them out of the room and through the station until she's forbidden to go any further.
"I tried to get more time, but the guy hates you Diane. And I hate to say it but he has a case, his personal feelings are just a part of this." Adrian joins her at the door, watching as they load Kurt into the squad car.
"The bastard is up to something Adrian. Either he's doing it personally or someone is paying him to do this, but there's no coincidence that he's working to put my husband away."
"It's not the end yet Diane. There's an opening here, we just have to find it."
She clears her throat.
"No. This is just the beginning."