Time to deal with the devil

Angelo didn't like Lochlann. He hadn't even met the kid, but he already didn't like him. Someone else had handled the other cases, but Angelo was the officer currently in charge of the murder of Dani California. He hadn't started as the officer in charge, but around the time it had been decided that there was absolutely fucking nothing to be found, it had gotten dumped on his desk and he was told to follow up on the few leads they had.

The game of Clue had more solid leads than the entire of the case file, but he'd gone through it dutifully just the same. It was hard not to notice that Lochlann had a big file. The file was thicker than Angelo's arm, but it was all circumstantial. There was no real evidence that linked him to anything, but the fact of the matter was that people Lochlann was around tended to go missing. Either the kid was the world's most unlucky bastard, or he had a shed full of bodies somewhere.

It was time to find out which it was.

Lochlann was back on Manta Carlos, and he'd been given a summons - or invitation, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Technically there was no penalty for not showing up to talk to Angelo about the case, but if he didn't... well, then Angelo got to go digging around to find out why he wouldn't show up in the first place.

He'd settled into a conference room at the appropriate time, and he was giving Lochlann no more than twenty minutes before he gave up and went to get a coffee.

Angelo had a sneaking suspicion that every single cop who worked on the island would have either talked to Lochlann already, or would want to talk to him. His case file was so thick, and he seemed to be involved in everything. Young woman went missing? Probably seen playing tonsil hockey with Lochlann. Someone kills themselves? Probably close friends with Lochlann. Body part found? Probably located in Lochlann's house.

It was a miracle he wasn't in jail already.

"It's customary to do an interview with a witness more than once, especially when the first one is so garbled." Literally the only solid fact - that hadn't been contradicted or ludicrous or incoherent - was that the supposed shooter was a woman. Angelo was of the opinion that it was sloppy police work Lochlann was even allowed to leave the island, but the fact that he'd come back was a mark in his favor.

"I wanted to hear what happened that night, in your own words, now that you've calmed down." And was not an incoherent, blubbering mess. He glanced over the files before flipping the folder closed (he'd only brought the relevant ones, which made it at least a manageable stack) and looking up at Lochlann.

Angelo wasn't putting much of a show on as far as 'making Lochlann feel like he was concerned about him'. He was suspicious, and he really wasn't trying to hide it. There was no point - how the hell could someone not be suspicious?

"Angelo Genovese. I arrived late - you'd already been gone. I wasn't on patrol when it was called in." They'd called in more people when they'd had not one but two separate murders within hours of each other. "I'm unable to discuss anything to do with her case - and I need your testimony before. What we have is... limited." What he had was like four words total, and nothing useful. It only narrowed it down to half the goddamn island.

"So, what exactly did you see?" As far as he was concerned, Lochlann should never have been allowed to leave the island until he was questioned.

"No offense, because this isn't a you thing, but immediately after witnessing something terrible, people tend to be terrible witnesses. You have six people giving different descriptions of the shooter because everyone wants to say what they saw, and only days or weeks later have they calmed down enough to admit they didn't see squat."

Oops, almost said shit. He was trying to be professional, but sometimes it still snuck out. He was doing it best to keep it casual and try and make it seem like he wasn't going for Lochlann's vitals, but - well, he was.

"You must have seen something - the circumstances on what happened that you gave us basically told us nothing. Do you want to just start with the beginning? Like, what she was doing over at your place, and what you were doing before the shooting."

For some reason, saying 'the shooting' sounded nicer than 'the murder'.

Of course, he was immediately derailed, and if Angelo had a drink, he probably would have choked on it. What the hell? Where the hell had that come from? It seemed to have no context in the conversation, and Angelo couldn't say if it was a prod at him, or if Lochlann somehow thought it was related.

"Yes, I know everything about murder for hire. Is that what you think this is, then?"

Angelo didn't trust Lochlann a bit. He was shady, to say the least. Or perhaps shady was not a strong enough word for it. Lochlann was not standing in the shade so much as he was at the bottom of a mine tunnel with no lights.

"Uh huh. You said it was a woman?" He had a neat little plan in his mind - he just had to work in such a way as to catch Lochlann in it. A trap - a contradiction. Because Lochlann was, as far as he was concerned, full of shit, and he was less than happy that Lochlann had effectively kicked the leg out from his composure. He'd managed to pull himself back together after the initial shock, but he didn't like it.

"Yes, I'd wager there are. Most of them probably aren't active here - but when you've got supernatural powers, that's the kind of profession a lot of people get into." He was half talking out his ass, and half talking from experience. After all, he was one of those people, and his goddamn roommate was one of those people, so... yeah, he'd wager there were more than usual.