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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 10:55:22 GMT -6
The bedroom centerpiece was a small bed with a handmade quilt featuring lily of the Valley designs, turned at the corner as though someone had been there recently. The sheets were neatly tucked, if a tad rumpled, and the pillows fluffed. The closet doors, once opened, revealed an assortment of old, worn clothes, familiar from the photographs that circulated whenever the director featured in the news. The old woman's suitcase sat wrapped in plastic inside. The jewelry box, with a few brooches, was open on the dresser, and a rack of long pashmina scarves leaned against the wall by the closet. A small altar with gold-leafed icons of saints occupied a corner of the room.
Once Aerilyn looked closer, she would come across one of the icons half hidden beneath the bed, with a chip in the corner of the painted wood, and a candle with charred wick lying askance by it, where a small burn marred the antique carpet.
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 12:08:08 GMT -6
Aerilyn frowned at the sight of the suitcase still wrapped in plastic, then the jewelry box still undisturbed. She stepped over to the altar and didn't notice anything at first, but a closer look showed an icon had fallen, a candled with it and a burn on the carpet. That was all she really needed to see. "Really director? Again?" If that was the only sign of a struggle though, then Aerilyn was impressed. Either she had been surprised and knocked out, or she had gone willingly.
Aerilyn's nose wrinkled and she left the house. She checked the time, then headed to pick her husband up from jail. Of all the days for him to be arrested, it was the day they discovered the director was missing. The aeromancer made certain the door was locked behind her at least and the house was well secured. Hopefully there were security cameras there or pointed at the residence. they'd have to have gone up without Arianne knowing, but that was possible. It wasn't like she signed off on everything.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 12:42:51 GMT -6
When Ahmad finally made it to court, the judge, a lanky old witch with neatly coiffed silver hair framing her light brown face, looked sternly down on him and the young West Indian man from the public defender's office, raising her eyebrows momentarily at the charge sheet in front of her. The judge's nameplate read Gail Purrington Young, and for a second, Ahmad wondered if that meant she was named for a cat. After all, didn't witches often keep cats in their houses? Or maybe that was just a lazy stereotype. He didn't know.
He'd had a chance to speak with the lawyer, Lawrence Ifill, for about ten minutes before the cops had brought him up, and had amazingly vomited only once during this interaction. Once upstairs, the five cases called before his were for armed robbery, sexual assault, driving while intoxicated, assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault on an officer. The defendants in each of these cases looked sideways at Ahmad when the nasty-looking man, Arnold Grozovsky (which he pronounced in a very snivelling voice), read the charges and asked for no bail.
Ahmad and Grozovsky were about equally scrawny and small, and looked every bit the graduates of nerdy summer camps from their youths as they both were. Judge Purrington-Young rifled through some papers, frowned some more, listened to the clerk whisper something in her ear, shook her head, then said something about bail set for fifty thousand credits and arraignment in a few days, then quick as she'd called Ahmad up, transitioned abruptly to the next case up for presentment - this one public corruption.
The whole thing was over in less than three minutes.
When Ahmad had gone back downstairs, he asked Lawrence how soon he could go home. The lawyer shrugged. "If you've got the fifty thousand credits in cash, or have someone go to a bondsman, today. If not, well..."
And then Ahmad vomited for the second time that day.
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 13:03:35 GMT -6
Aerilyn had waited impatiently for her husband to see the judge and managed to get an escort down to where he had been escorted after seeing the judge. With a snort, she walked over to him and offered some water. "We have got to work on the nervous vomitting thing love." she had seen him doing worse. "I caught what he said and I'll see a bondsman for you." This entire thing was ridiculous. "I'm afraid Drulovic and I need you out of here immediately." They didn't have 50K credits in cash. She was pretty sure they didn't have that much in credits period.
Once she had finished bailing her husband out of jail. Where did you even find a bondsman? What was needed to get one? She didn't understand it at all, but she suspected she was about to get a crash course. She turned to the lawyer and smiled. "I'm Aerilyn Fazari, his wife." And there were times it still thrilled her to be called Fazari. Right now, not so much. This entire thing was ridiculous. "What do I need to do to get bond for him? And once I have it, how to I post it?" Was it called posting it? She really didn't know.
Aerilyn was not accustomed to dealing with what happened after an arrest. Hell, she knew more about how to break up an assault than she did anything involving cops at all.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 13:21:40 GMT -6
Ahmad chugged the water then handed the cup back to Aerilyn. "Thanks. Sorry. I'm kind of a mess."
Lawrence tried not to look like he was staring. "Hi, I'm Lawrence Ifill. I'm at the public defender's office and I'm working presentments today - first hearings after arrest." He shook Aerilyn's hand. "I can't talk much here because it's not really private, but essentially, you'll need to look one up. You'll pay about 10%, and they'll cover the rest. It takes a few hours usually, but if you can do it today, it might be faster since Ahmad hasn't been overnight in the jail. That's a separate building here."
At that, Ahmad swallowed visibly. "Is there a scenario where jail doesn't happen?"
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 13:58:45 GMT -6
Aerilyn huffed and kissed her husband's cheek. "No. You're the one who took the wrong car." She pointed out. With a smile she took his hand and squeezed it. "I'll try and move quickly. You'll be fine. I can see if any of Gambit's regulars are in, if you have to overnight, and they'll look out for you for me." She wouldn't be too terribly surprised if someone was there. It wasn't like her work place attracted the most law abiding of citizens. Oh the occasional cop decided to hang out there and drink, but they didn't actually do much else than that there.
"We have the money in savings for ten percent." Barely, but they managed it well enough. Neither lived extravagantly after all and their hobbies were generally inexpensive things. They were lucky to have the money saved up. She had been squirreling it away for a nice long vacation at some point, or for emergencies, but she supposed this counted as an emergency. "Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Ifill." Now she had to find a bondsman so she could bail out her husband. "I'm afraid we're on a bit of a time crunch. We've had some bad news, and I'll need my husband's help to fix things." It was her coded way of confirming the director was missing. She hoped Ahmad picked up on it.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 15:33:33 GMT -6
Ahmad didn't return the proffered smile. He hunched his shoulders, pressing his fist to his jaw, and stared down. "Yeah, I'm going to try to hold out hope for not staying overnight." He glanced over at Lawrence again, noting that the lawyer was flipping through something on his comm's screen. "Will we have a chance to talk again? Because I really don't need this in my life. In fact, I don't want this to be happening to me even a tiny amount."
The lawyer exhaled. "If you're found eligible to receive services from our office in the next couple of days, then we'll meet again. If not, someone in the assignments office will give you some general information on how to contact and hire a private attorney. You're a salaried government official, though, so, my guess is that you'll probably be ineligible and referred out. In the meantime, you can reach out if you have any questions. Here's my card." He offered two, one each for Ahmad and Aerilyn.
"Thanks..." Ahmad took the card glumly, not looking at it. After a moment, he added to Aerilyn, "...so I take it she's not home. Well, I guess we should find out what Leimgrüber knows, since he's supposed to be in charge of security." He swiveled his head suddenly back toward Lawrence. "Wait a moment. Can I get the police to let me talk to someone? Um... Someone else I mean. I was just meeting with Salma Khayyam this morning! Maybe she can help me get out sooner."
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 15:53:40 GMT -6
"Or. And here's an idea. I go to the bondsman, get the bond, get you out, and contact Leimgrüber. I have his number from the last time I worked her security." Aerilyn accepted the card with a smile to the lawyer. "I can let Khayyam know where you are too, if you're sure you want me to." She seriously doubted that. "You can tough it out a bit longer, Ahmad. I'll be back as soon as possible." Though he was clearly going to fret the entire time.
She smiled to him gently. "Hey. I'll get you out tonight and you'll be just fine in there. If anyone tries anything, that's what plasma rifles and a very fierce wife are for." This was going to be all too interesting.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 16:20:13 GMT -6
"Great..." Ahmad did not sound particularly reassured.
"Okay, we've gotta head downstairs," one of the court officers said, suddenly appearing at Ahmad's side and resting a hand on his shoulder. "You can talk later."
Ahmad looked up, but didn't move yet. "We have to go now?"
"Time to head out now. If you post bail today, you won't have to go back to the lockup overnight." The court officer motioned for Ahmad to follow.
Lawrence nodded to Ahmad, and sighed. "I'll be in contact about your case, okay?"
Ahmad slumped, crossing his arms, and didn't respond.
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 16:27:31 GMT -6
Aerilyn smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'll have you out soon." She promised. "You'll be fine. Love you." Hopefully. He was incredibly worried. Aerilyn stepped back and watched them go for a moment, before heading out herself. She had a phone call to make and her phone was in her hand as she exited the door, drawing up the GPS for the nearest bondsman one second, and them dialing Leimgrüber's number as she got into her car. She could re-arm herself when she was done for the day. It wasn't like she was every fully disarmed anyway.
Putting her phone in its holder, she backed out and began to follow the directions. Impatiently,she waited for Leimgrüber to pick up. He better not be in a meeting.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 16:40:05 GMT -6
After several rings, Leimgrüber's gruff voice responded. "Leimgrüber. Can it wait?"
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 16:44:00 GMT -6
"You lost the director. Again. So unless you're working on tracking her down now, then no, no it can't." Aerilyn pointed out, following the GPS instructions to the bonds man. Hopefully there wouldn't be one far. "this is Aerilyn Fazari. I dropped by her house. She's not there but all her things are. It looks like someone surprised her but she went willingly. I'm pretty sure she knocked a candle down, but had a chance to put it out at least, given there just a burn spot and not the entire house burned down."
She turned on her blinker and waited patiently for the light turn. "Please tell me there's actually some sort of cameras snuck in when she wasn't looking?"
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 16:45:54 GMT -6
"We already know, Aerilyn. I can't discuss anything further with you. You're not cleared." Leimgrüber's irritation was clear even over the phone. He paused a moment, instead of disconnecting immediately, and added, "I know you're worried. You're not wrong to be worried. But for her sake, you need to stay out of this."
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Post by demikara on Sept 3, 2019 16:56:13 GMT -6
"Alright. I let Ahmad know it's handled. If you need me call me in. I can get read in the situation if needed. I do have a clearance." If a rarely used one. Still, at least it was being handled. "Or did my husband get a briefing package he never read? He'll...be out for the rest of the day by the way. Something came up." It was under control. Leimgrüber was good at what he did.
"Though he may end up coming in late tonight." It depended on how angry she needed to be at him. And how angry she could stand to be at him. He had been so disheartened at having to even spend a few more hours in the jail. Being upset with him was going to be difficult.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 3, 2019 17:13:54 GMT -6
"I'm aware," Leimgrüber replied shortly. "Our office is sending someone to fetch the deputy director this evening." The ambient noise in the background indicated the type of white noise some bureau employees routinely used as an additional countermeasure for potential attempts to intercept transmissions. "Is there anything else?"
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