Fred Duncan and Adrienne Frost log: Making a deal

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

The very small, stupid fish gets released from the net due to the prospect of a larger, tastier catch.

Fred Duncan barely looked up from the window through which he was monitoring Adrienne Frost's interview. The one way glass painted them all with a wash of light gray, and the woman looked even more wan than she had when he'd finally asked her to turn herself in to him at the field office. The door behind him opened, and three people entered the room. Garrison took a seat in the back, but the other two came and sat beside him.

"Fred. You sure this isn't some kind of joke?"

"No Helen, it isn't." Assistant District Attorney Helen Ryang was a no nonsense woman. She was first generation American, and had clawed her way to her position through a career in the toughest areas of public service, without any of the normal political connections or society links that those in her position usually had for help. She was notoriously tough, but also as equally noted for her fairness.

"Hard to imagine otherwise, unless this is the FBI sticking it's nose in again where it is not wanted." Lt. Warren Kelso was the Commander Detective Squad for the Manhattan South Borough, and while the NYPD as a whole had a good relationship with the massive FBI New York field office, Kelso's division in the area overlapped on many areas that where often pushed into the federal sphere for political reasons, and while he didn't exactly blame the FBI for it, the relationship between them was strained at best.

"Thanks Warren. Look, you guys each chose a personal object at random in front of me. They went into plan envelopes, and you watched her touch each object and state her findings while on both the polygraph and the new retinal monitor. She got both right, and her graph didn't twitch. She's a mutant, this is her power, and we've got a giant gray blot in the legal process as a result." Duncan turned to them, sipping from his coffee.

"It's not that major a blot, Fred. She's guilty, and telepathy, empathy, and this, what, precognitive touch thing are inadmissible as evidence in a court of law." Ryang said.

"I know, but let's not talk about the exact letter of the law right now. We know and she knows her powers can't be used as a defense. That doesn't mean that they're not right. In fact, pretty clearly, her powers tell her the truth here."

"Why not come to use before? I mean, seriously, she could have..." Kelso suddenly stopped. "Now I see what you're getting at. Her powers also wouldn't have been admissible in getting her taken into protective custody or getting a restraining order."

"Shit." Ryang said, and stole Fred's paper cup to wash the sour taste out of her mouth. She, much like Kelso and Duncan, had made their career in law enforcement because they believed the rules of society were important, but all of them had watched situations in which the technicalities of the law, which protected effectively the vast majority, had failed someone directly. Each of them had seen enough of those to separate law and justice, but also still strove to cleave as close to the spirit the laws were made in as the enforced the technical manner.

"Duncan, you wouldn't have staged this without an idea." Kelso said finally, leaning forward. "What are you looking for."

"Adrienne's ex-husband. The one she had killed before he could kill her."

"Yeah. DuClos was a real piece of work. I didn't know you could get a degree in Professional Douche-Baggery. Connected with the D'Anofrino Family. Did some work with their numbers, helped set up odd-shore accounts, move money... the OCCB's had been tracking him for a couple of months before he got shot, hoping they could trap him somehow, and get inside the family's books." Kelso explained.

"D'Anofrino's been expanding too. There's a rumour that they've just picked up a foothold in Madripoor, first Mafia group ever to get into the business there, and there's rumours of possible deals with cartels in Malayasia, Central America and Thailand." Ryang said, idly watching the interview through the window. "The DA is pissed, because we're not even close to having a case. The Teflon Don wasn't even a patch on these guys. The Wireless Generation Mafia, and they're good at it."

"See, all of that, that's worth making a deal to break wide open. Here's my idea..."

***

"Ms. Frost. Please don't get up." Fred Duncan said as he walked into the room. "Now, you are aware that at this moment, you're currently under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, a crime that under the laws of New York State carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, and a maximum penalty of death by lethal injection if so convicted. You are fully aware of the situation, correct?"

The first comment that sprung to Adrienne's mind was 'why do you think it took me so long to come forward?' but she bit the snide remark back, keeping a steady, dissatisfied gaze on the man in front of her. She knew if there was any possibility of getting clear of her mess it depended on Duncan, which meant it probably wouldn't be wise to piss him off. "I'm aware," she said instead, schooling her voice into steadiness before it could waver with fear. She wished she had the lighter Amanda had given her, but she'd turned it in at the desk when she'd arrived. "The only thing I'm not aware of is why a prominent figure from the FBI is involving himself with my... situation, other than some sort of obligation to Garrison Kane."

"My office unofficially handles most mutant related criminal investigations. Your power creates a unique angle to what otherwise is an open and shut case. However, that's not the only reason." Fred carefully laid the file down in front of him and pushed it over. "One of the reasons the Bureau was started in the first place was to combat organized crime, and their ability to operate across multiple jurisdictions. Your husband had links to the D'Anofrino crime syndicate, and we're concerned that we might be looking at the rise of a new generation of Mafia families. It took us six decades to break them the first time. I'd rather crush them quicker this time, even if it requires making a deal with a murderer."

Making a deal. Upon hearing the phrase, Adrienne felt as if a crushing weight she'd had overtop of her for a month- for several months, really; since she'd come to New York for the investigation- had lessened just a little. When Garrison had come to her urging her to confess she'd done something she wasn't in the habit of doing- she'd trusted him- yet there'd still been a lingering doubt in the back of her pessimist's mind that Garrison wouldn't be able to help her. But he had. Adrienne felt like jumping up from the uncomfortable interview room chair, throwing open the door to the room with the one-way mirror where she knew he'd be watching, and giving him a big sloppy kiss.

But of course she wasn't actually going to do that. So instead she picked up the file Duncan had pushed her way and tried to focus on what else he'd been telling her. "Crime syndicate?" she asked, eyes on Duncan rather than on the file, forcing her excitement back so it wouldn't show. "Steven?" She gave Duncan a skeptical look, surprised. Even when he'd been in law school Adrienne knew Steven had been into some shady dealings, but she hadn't expected organized crime. "You're sure? I mean, doesn't working for the mafia mean one has to have brains?"

"Not really." Duncan said. His experience over the years had proved the basic point that most criminals were relatively stupid. "Currently there's not a lot of evidence, however, if he was working their books, he'd have access to the numbers. That access should come out with his personal papers to a power like yours. And while it is inadmissible in a court of law, your assistance in finding those materials doesn't have any bearing on any evidence that we find."

Duncan slid over the file. "The DA's office and the NYPD have reviewed the material about your powers, and in light of your ex-husband's efforts to transfer control of your joint possessions into his name solely before his death, there's at least a chance that a very good lawyer could convince a jury that your actions were motivated by self-preservation. You're a very small and stupid fish in a much larger sea, and we're willing to drop the charges against you in return for the conditions outlined in the file."

Adrienne fought back shock at hearing about Steven's efforts to transfer control of their assets to himself, completely ignoring Duncan's quip about her being a stupid fish. So Steven had been deliberately intending to kill her. She'd had Steven killed to avoid her own demise, but some part of her had still wanted to believe death would be an accident. Had Garrison known when he'd urged her to confess?

She gripped the file she was holding harder and steadied herself, focusing on the conditions Duncan had mentioned rather than on the questions clouding her thoughts. "This all looks fairly reasonable," Adrienne replied after a quick skim over the file. It wasn't really the phrase she would have chosen if it had been Garrison sitting across from her instead of Duncan, but she wasn't about to tell Duncan that she'd do absolutely anything as long as the charges against her were dropped. She wondered if she should thank Duncan. "Do I have to sign something?"

"The last page, please." Fred looked over his shoulder and motioned to the window. "We're starting the tape now. Adrienne Frost, in return for your cooperation in obtaining documentation from your ex-husband's estate which will provide direct information about the financial and criminal structure of the D'Anofrino syndicate, the FBI will arrange all charges relating to the death of your husband dropped. As a condition of this arrangement, you will make yourself available at our discretion for a period of five years, during this time you will act as an informal consultant on investigations. You will not be called on to testify."

Duncan paused and leaned forward. "This deal is being offered only because we realize the extraordinary circumstances that your powers represent. However, Ms Frost, even despite your powers, you have exercised extremely poor judgment in reacting to the information available to you. With your intelligence, financial resources and social connections, there is no excuse for your decision to deal with the potential danger your husband represented through criminal violence. You can consider yourself extremely lucky that his own activities represent a more significant law enforcement opportunity than jailing you. We will be in touch next week to arrange for you and an investigative team to begin looking for documentation."

He waved for the tape to be shut off and picked up the file.

Doing her best to look contrite, Adrienne nodded in response to several points of Duncan's
lecture and bit back a huge smile when he took the signed deal. She didn't even feel like arguing over his saying that she had no excuse for what she'd done. The desire to be understood by a man like Duncan was not something Adrienne felt was necessary. She didn't really care what Duncan thought of her as long as he followed through on the deal. "A cleaning service dealt with the main house when I sold it after my husband's death and anything from his home office was put into a storage garage with his personal items, as I'm sure you know by now," she told Duncan with a nod. "I'll get ahold of the key for your investigators. We may find something of use to you there." Without smiling, she turned to the one-way mirror, assuming Garrison was still there and directing a question at him rather than Duncan. "Am I free to go?"

"Yes. We'll call you when we need you." Duncan nodded. He paused and looked her right in the eyes. "Count on it."