vanreyk | IC CONTACT

[ First, Simon is going to get a few pictures! How nice! Except, they're all of various parts of a dead body, but this is normal for them.

The body looks mauled; scratches, cuts, big chunks of torn flesh all over his body. Monster attack, he's told, and his supervisor was already getting a bit peeved that Harrow questioned this more than once. Said he was asking the wrong questions. Blah, blah, blah — he's heard it all before. He pretends to let it go. He doesn't have years of good work and results to justify his methods like he does at QIFM, better not push his luck.

That's why he makes this call back in the hotel, sitting at the kitchen table with his work laptop open along with the victim's files. He hasn't talked to Simon yet today, aside from a couple of texts, so he figured he would call him. He's sure Simon will find this interesting.

As soon as he picks up: ]

So, what do you make of this?

[Simon gets the pictures and oof. Nasty. He knows why Harrow has sent them though. He wants him to study them, he wants his opinion on matters. So he does, sending them to the notebook he'd bought to be able to pull the pictures up in the higher resolution.

Animal attack is what he thinks at first, but then his mind wanders to when he'd been attacked by Harrow. Of course his body didn't look like this, but it does make him consider. Monster attack? Mmm... the more he studies some of these cuts though...]

Hey-

[He picks up a couple rings into Harrow's call.]

Well, with zero context it looks like some kind of animal attack. Considering where we are, maybe a monster?

[Simon clicks through the pictures again, shakes his head.]

But... a lot of these cuts look like they were made with a blade, not claws or teeth. They're too neat... too y'know... purposeful. [A soft huff.] Unless we got Edward Scissorhands running around?

[ One can practically hear the smile on Harrow's face. ]

Exactly.

[ He knew even with no context that Simon would get there easily. ]

Dennis [ the victim's name, ] was found in his apartment, so an animal attack was ruled out. Officially, they're calling it a monster attack. But these lacerations...

[ Harrow leans forward to study the pictures pulled up on his laptop. ]

...It's almost as if someone tried meticulously to space them apart so it would look like something with claws attacked him. Just look at the spacing on all the photos.

[ God, he missed this. Not just the working. Working with Simon, officially or not. ]

[For Simon it's been about a week since he died, for Harrow... he doesn't know? How long had he been gone back home? Regardless, in this short time he'd missed this too. Missed this normalcy.

Feels good hearing the excitement in Harrow's voice, because he got it right. He found what Harrow wanted him to see.]

Yeah... yeah it does. Lemme guess? Ones in charge don't agree?

[Simon doesn't have to guess, he can just assume.]

Did they have any photos of the apartment? Items collected on the scene? Could be something matching those cuts in that apartment...

[ Too long, Simon. Too long. ]

You know the routine.

[ His assumption is correct, of course. ]

I've seen the photos, read the reports — they've done a very thorough job. But...something feels like it's missing. I'm going to go take a look before the forensic cleaners get there first.

[ Which isn't a lot of time, given this is being considered an "open-and-shut" case. ]

I'm already slightly skirting the rules doing this, but...I could skirt one more if you wanted to come along. If you're comfortable. No pressure.

[Simon loves the routine, especially now that it's been taken from him.]

You skirting rules? Nooo...

[He can't believe it. Not Harrow. At the offer to join him in his rule skirting, part of Simon wants to jump on it, get out and get right into the thick of things again. Then that little voice in his head says that would probably be a bad idea. What if he reacts badly? Panics being around him, his scent... what if Harrow does?

There's a clear pause as all of this goes through his head, but he does answer eventually.]

While breaking and entering on a crime scene sounds like a really romantic date idea, I think someone might notice and remember some weirdo with wings slipping in. You're more likely to get in without any trouble on your own.

[Whew. Good excuse. Not that it wasn't true. Not that he didn't want to go either, but... but yeah.]

Edited (fucking html lord almighty) 2022-10-07 09:20 (UTC)

[ Perish the thought of this man not following the rules!

That is a very significant pause, which Harrow expects. He knew there was a chance Simon wouldn't be ready, and that's fine. He doesn't want to rush him. ]

Right, right — I keep forgetting you have those.

[ He did actually forget to consider the wings. It's not something that's normally a problem, in his defense. But he'll pretend to believe it's all about the wings. ]

And here I was, about to take you out to dinner and a crime scene. What a shame.

Easy for you to forget, you don't have them.

[But Harrow takes it well, he figured he'd understand, but more he hopes he doesn't take it personally.]

Can I get a raincheck on that? Next time.

I'm sure there will be plenty of crime scenes in the future.

[ Considering he nearly ate Simon alive, he really can't take it personally. If it means never hurting Simon again, Harrow will wait as long as he needs to. ]

...Actually, I think I have an idea. I'll call you back in about...half an hour.

[ He doesn't give Simon much of a chance to respond before hanging up the phone. A little over thirty minutes later, he'll get a video call. ]

voice cw: graphic description of dead bodies

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