Time to find out what the big news was!
Cal stood in the corner of the room, his cuffed hands loosely abandoned down on his lap and a stunned expression on his face.
Gillian was at the table, mostly because she needed to sit down after the news, and was hanging her head down in between her hands as she shook it slowly.
Martin sat across her, his hands on the table ready to get back into action. He was sharing their silence out of respect: he had heard it all before and had already gone past the initial shock and confusion that came with finding out now there was an accusation of murder in the cards.
He had explained it to them, finding that there was oddly not much to say about it. The police had been searching the warehouse, possibly trying to find more evidence and traces that Cal had done more than sitting in the car when he had gone there. The place was empty and abandoned, occasionally used for dark dealings and by homeless people to sleep when it was too rough outside, but during the search they had found something that they didn't expect.
The body of two-time offender Stephen 'Stevie' Ash had been found inside the warehouse in a far corner, roughly hidden under a mouldy mattress thrown on top of him. The indicative cause of death was head trauma, likely produced by the bloody lead pipe found close to the body. Because of the wet weather of the past few days the medical examiner had not ventured into an hypothesis about the time of death while on the spot, the autopsy was under way and a response was expected any minute. Meanwhile, the pipe was most definitely the murder weapon but there were no fingerprints on it.
No matter what, the police were going with the easiest of the 2+2. Stevie was a known addict and small time dealer, his record showed that a couple of time he had been involved in bigger operations and tried to become a hot shot with no success, and he had been killed at the same location Cal - a man they had found in possession of 5kg of cocaine with a history of stepping out of line - had secretly being visiting on a regular basis for weeks. As far as the cops were concerned the matter was close, prints or no prints. Maybe Cal had been working with Stevie to dispatch his drugs, maybe Stevie had started to overstep or perhaps blackmail Cal after having found out who he was, or maybe - oh that what would have been a hoot for them - they had done some coke together and gone off the rails, with Cal killing Stevie in a drug induced rage. A good enough DA would have probably been able to spin the lack of print as a show of guilt, hinting that Cal knew better and that wiping off the pipe was way too easy.
Of course there was no actual proof of any of that, and so far no proven connection between Cal and the victim, but the police were rolling with it. And with a dead body now on the table, it was getting a little difficult to convince themselves that there was an easy way out of it.
"When?" Cal asked after a while. "When did they find the body?"
"Earlier today, they went back to search the warehouse after you were arrested," Martin explained.
"So when they questioned me, they already knew?" The lawyer nodded. "That explains why they were going at me so hard."
"I am not surprised," Martin huffed. "It's not the first time you are suspected of murder."
"Oh c'mon Marty!" Cal blurted, finally moving away from the wall and back to the table. "That was like…five minutes, I wasn't even really charged. And it was all cleared up rather quickly."
"Yes," the lawyer mumbled. "Thanks in no small part to the help of the very same FBI agent you claimed you had been hanging around with."
Cal's jaw clenched, knowing that Martin wasn't trying to be difficult but simply voicing what was probably in the detective's head as well. Good man Martin, great lawyer when it came to business and not all that bad at that either.
"Ford and Teller," Gillian muttered all of a sudden, speaking in a low voice and timidly joining the conversation. "Were they there, to search the warehouse?"
It was a legitimate question, so far those two had been interestingly present every time something of note had been found, and Gillian held her breath waiting for Martin's answer.
"No. I got a copy of the report and they were not there."
She let the news sink in, trying to slide it into position with the other pieces of the puzzle and make sense of it. It was good news, right? If those two were up to something and had not been involved in that search maybe…but then again, why would the police find something so damning without them being involved? Shaking her head slowly, Gillian looked up at Cal with a confused expression, to which he reacted with surprise and a hint of fear.
"Don't give me that look Cal. Of course I don't think you killed someone!" Cal smirked, unable not to be amused by her outburst despite everything. "It's just…by now I am convinced those two cops planted the evidence on your and your car, nobody but them was there to see it and there is no record of it to question it. But if they were not there when the body was found-"
"Means I actually killed the guy?"
She shot him another glare, clearly not willing to entertain the idea for a second and annoyed that he was childishly forcing her to keep saying that, as if he needed reassurance.
"No. It means that if it had been them, they probably would have done it a different way." She stood up, pacing back and forth as she spoke. "So far they planted things on you in a very straightforward way, directly implicating you with evidence. Why not do the same with something so big like a dead body?"
"How?" Martin asked, intrigued.
"They have his prints now, his DNA," she noted. "Wouldn't be the first time cops plant that kind of evidence on a scene. They somehow snuck kilos of cocaine in his car, why not a little DNA?" Cal was impressed, not only because it was some sharp reasoning but also because he could tell that it was powered by a solid thought process and not by some kind of denial about the whole situation. She had a point, and she wasn't even done yet. "They found nothing at home, they barely took anything from the office. The missing body cams don't work in their favour, no matter how much dirt they try to dig on you. And they are not going to find anything tying you to Ash, but it's convenient for them to put this on you because you were there at some point."
"I agree with you Gillian, but it's a murder accusation we are talking about here."
"But he hasn't been charged, right?" Martin had to nod in agreement, they had been informed but no formal charges had been added to the list yet. "They know it's not strong enough, not as it is. Any defence lawyer worth their fee would be able to question the lack of evidence."
"None taken," Martin muttered, earning himself a double glare from them. "Listen, it's obvious that they don't have a strong enough case on this. I can find out if they already took it to the DA office and if they are pushing back…Honestly, I am counting on the fact that people there would remember all the great work you guys have done for them."
"Just as long as it's not someone who used to work with my ex-wife," Cal quipped bitterly, then quickly smirked at Gillian. "Sorry love, gallows humour of sorts I guess."
Gillian was about to reply that her patience for his coping mechanism was growing thin and fast, when she was stopped by a knock on the door. Martin called the visitor to come in and a guard appeared, handling him a small envelope and leaving the room after a small nod to the lawyer. He nodded back then turned around to face them, opening the envelope and avidly reading the piece of paper within it.
"What's that?" Cal asked.
"The results of the autopsy," he answered absently, busy with his reading, then looked up at them and shrugged at their surprised expression. "I know my way around."
Cal grinned, appreciating that those on his sides were showing clear signs of being ready to take their gloves off and fight back just a dirty, then waited for the lawyer to share with the rest of the class.
"Cause of death is confirmed, blood loss caused by a head trauma with the pipe. The medical examiner established that he was killed on the 11th."
"That's oddly specific for a body that had been there 13 days," Cal scoffed, not sure if he had to be impressed or scared that they could be so accurate. "How can they be so sure?"
"State of decomposition mostly…and the phone in the chest pocket of his jacket broke when he fell over." Martin revealed, killing the magic of the notion. "It was smashed badly but they managed to access the drive and establish the exact time of death."
He looked up at them again, and this time he found them looking at each with a relaxed and almost hopeful expression for the first time since that thing had started.
"When?" Gillian asked, coming closer and barely containing a sudden excitement. "What was the time?"
"Uh, yes. Between noon and 1pm."
And that was when Gillian beamed, letting hope and excitement shine through as she looked at Cal with a spark in her eyes.
"Cal, that's perfect!" The enthusiasm was evident in her voice, in the way she stood in front of him grabbing his hands. "The 11th, that time? Cal, all we have to do is-"
"No Gillian, we won't."
"What? Cal, this is it! You have an alibi for that, at the very least we can take care of the murder charge and maybe even crash their whole case."
"I know love, but we can't tell them."
Gillian was baffled, squeezing his hands tight mostly to fight back the urge to slap him. Not just because of what he was saying, which made no sense whatsoever to her, but also because of the way he was looking at her: sweet and loving, apologising with his eyes but showing that he had no intention to budge. How could he be so caring and understanding and yet so utterly frustrating at the same time?
"Of course we can, and the best part about it is that they will be the ones asking," she went on, deciding to ignore his resistance and thinking if she can steamroll her way past that they might get somewhere. "They checked with Reynolds because they knew he wouldn't confirm your story. They haven't asked to speak to me yet, or anybody else besides you for that matter, because they know we wouldn't say anything that fits their story. But if they want to charge you with the murder they will have to check your alibi, right Martin?" The lawyer nodded quickly, feeling best not to overdo it unless otherwise asked. "When they will, all I have to do is to tell them the truth."
"Except you won't. No, Gill, listen to me, ok?" Cal grabbed hold of her the best he could, knowing his words confused her and that the upcoming ones might do even more damage. "If they do question you, you won't say anything about that. You're gonna tell them that as far as you were concerned I was with Reynolds the nights that I told you so and nothing else."
"No, Cal- It doesn't make sense!"
"I know love, but listen to me-"
"No, you listen to me!" She barked at him. "This is our chance. I don't care about what you're not telling me, I can't drag it out of you and you don't want to tell me so be it. But this I can do, I can tell them where you were, I can prove it-"
"I don't want you to, love. Not unless it's necessary."
"Necessary? Cal, we are talking about murder charges here." She was fuming, pacing furiously and needing to put some distance between them not to escalate. "If this goes to trial, if it goes the distance and things don't work out as you say there might be the death penalty on the line."
"It won't go that far."
"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" He couldn't, she could see it clear as day and it terrified her. "You keep saying that Cal, but what if it doesn't?"
"I'm sorry Dr Lightman, but I'm not comfortable with this," Martin jumped in, nervous not so much about contradicting his clients but about the unfolding legal situation. "Gillian is right, we have the golden ticket here. They will probably ask you where you were that day, obviously you won't admit to anything and they know. They might question her too, although I think they won't unless they really have to. They know she won't say anything against you…it might even be counterproductive for them to question her. But we don't have to wait for it and play their game, we can finally make our own move and just tell them where you were."
"We could, but we won't."
"Cal!"
"Then…I'm afraid you're gonna have to find someone else to represent you, and fast." Martin shook his head, not feeling good about his own words. "I trust you didn't do any of this, I understand there are things you feel that you can't share at this stage. But professionally I can't provide you with the support you need, not if you don't allow me to do what could get you out of here in the blink of an eye."
"I appreciate that Martin, don't worry about it." Gillian shot Cal an incredulous glare, livid at his seemingly casual dismissal of his lawyer pretty much dumping him. "Guess we're gonna have to get on with finding that criminal specialist you were talking about then."
"I told you, we're already looking-"
"Call Zoe," Cal instructed, and Gillian nearly burst into a fire of rage and resentment. "We were struggling to find someone willing to go against DC police before, now that there's a dead body nobody would want to touch this or me with a ten foot pole. She knows what she's getting herself into with me, she's my best option."
It was petty and irrational and she knew it, but there was a limit and she had just reached it.
Cal had barely finished talking and Gillian was already by the door, slamming on it and calling for the guard to open and let her out of the door as soon as possible.
Just: before you get off at me...of course I'm not going to volunteer stuff on Zoe or engage with your speculations, it's basically like a spoiler LOL!