| Fall and Bump Head |
| Summary: | Kincaid gets a report from Cameron on the potential causes of Marissa Langer's death. |
| Date: | 17 Feb 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | A Second Opinion |
| Players: |
  |
| Security Hub — Deck 6 — Battlestar Cerberus |
|---|
| More than just an office for the Marines and their XO, this room has remote surveillance views of the Brigs as well as a state of the art communications center built into the far bulkhead. A locked and heavily armored door to the aft leads into another room, the white lettering on it reading 'ARMORY.' There are a few desks scattered around the room for getting necessary paperwork done and the Commandant's picture hangs on the wall next to one of the President. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #356 |
Kincaid is seated at his desk in the Marine Offices, a folder open on his desk. With Elpis cut off from the fleet — sort of — given the perpetual Condition 2 that they are at — it has reduced the amount of things that Kincaid has to do. He's just catching up with paperwork. Circle. Draw. Line. Scribble.
There is a soft tap at the door before it pushes open, Cameron's head popping in before the rest of him, blue eyes searching for and locking onto Kincaid as he calls out, "Ahhh, hey. I have that report you wanted from me, if now is a good time?" It's been awhile, but between the attacks and the work that Bannik has requested from him, not to mention the fact that Elpis, his adopted daughter, not the ship, has been having a hard time of it, Cameron's had precious little time to accomplish all of the things that have been piled up on his plate.
Kincaid glances up from his folder. "Oh. Hey. Doc Adair. Thanks for coming on by." He gets on up to his feet, gesturing to a chair nearby that he can pull up. "No time like the present for getting this added to my investigation folder. Were you able to dig anything up?" He unlocks his desk, rummaging around for another, different file in it.
Entering in properly and closing the door behind him, Cameron advances on the desk and takes a seat, nodding. "Sorry for the delay," he offers without adding an explanation. Likely Kincaid is more than aware of just how easy it is to get behind the eight ball these days. Placing the folder on the table, Cameron flips it open and pulls out a written report, handing it over to Kincaid before sitting back to give him a summary of its contents. "I have," he concurs thoughtfully, steepling his fingers in front of himself. "What stood out for me more wasn't so much the pictures of the body, but the pictures of the stairwell where the apparent 'accident' occurred. If Petty Officer Second Class Marissa Langer did indeed fall and strike her head, there would have been significant blood spatter on the bulkhead and the surrounding area. The autopsy stated it was a "blunt force trauma", but the pictures taken show that the wound on her head was open. Head wounds are notorious for heavy bleeding. If she had hit her head on the bulkhead, there should have been blood on the wall as well as the surrounding area," he points out, pulling out one of the pictures of the area and sliding it over to Kincaid. "But there isn't. This suggests to me that the injury was obtained elsewhere and that her body was placed in the stairwell some time after the initial bleeding had stopped. And there's also this," Cameron states, pulling out another picture from Omar. "The shape of this injury? It isn't the sort of thing that would be caused by a flat bulk head. There's a concave quality to the injury which suggests to me that it is more likely she was hit with something, rather than falling against something."
Kincaid takes the report from Cameron, looking down at it, skimming its contents as if to confirm that it says what Cameron is saying. Of course, it does. He nods. "Interesting," he says finally. "Well, that suggests homicide rather than an accident, right? Would you swear to that?"
"I'll swear to the fact that evidence clearly shows that she did not die from a fall in that stairwell. Whether or not that means she was murdered is another question entirely. Sadly, without the remains, I can't determine what might have struck her, or the angle of the blow. It's not impossible that she hit her head on something else and was moved to that location for some bizarre reason that I can't fathom, but obviously I cannot ascertain whether the blow was due to being struck or falling on something quite different at a different location. Either way, though, the circumstances are still damn suspicious. Not to mention the fact that the report is riddled with inaccuracies that go beyond a medic being tired or making a mistake. It's entirely possible that the individual who performed the autopsy and examination either deliberately lied in their report, or someone else changed the details after the fact and hoped that no one would notice the discrepancies between then photographs and the final report." Leaning forward, Cameron rests a hand on the desk and asks, "Is there any reason that you know of as to why someone would target this woman in particular?"
Kincaid is quiet, taking all this in. "Yeah," he says finally. "Yeah, I do. She's — she might just have known a little too much about a certain someone." He is still idly flipping through the papers in front of him, as if they hold some great truth as to who killed Marissa Langer. "Let's put it this way. We have a whole lot of suspicious circumstances."
"The whole thing stinks all the way to the Parthenon," Cameron agrees quietly. "I won't ask you for the details. I'm sure they're confidential. I just really wish we had the body." His head tilts to one side as he asks, "Is there any evidence that the disposal of her body was rushed? If it was, there might be a paper trail there worth looking at. But I would definitely question the attending physician at her autopsy and anyone who might have had access to that report for starters." Breathing out a frustrated sigh, Cameron rumbles, "I'm sorry I can't give you anything more conclusive…"
Kincaid shakes his head. "I'll need to take a look into it," he says, making a few marks on his copy of the report. "You know, it was assumed that she was just one of the many deaths in the big Cylon attack. So —" He shrugs. "It's just a big clusterfrak. But I'll get on it, Doc. I really appreciate all of this, all of your work taking a look at it."
Rising up from his seat, Cameron nods and rumbles, "Anything I can do. Just wish I could offer you more." His hand gestures to the file and report now in Kincaid's possession, noting, "If you need anything else from me, or require any clarifications, just let me know." But it isn't good, and he knows it. So much time has passed. Time to hide or destroy proof and traces of evidence. The doctor hovers for a moment, uncertain if Kincaid has all that he needs or not.
"Don't beat yourself up, Doc." Kincaid does his best to reassure the medical consultant. "There's a lot of pieces to this. You're not the only one; you're not the only evidence. And this." He taps the paper with his pen. "This is a big help. When this all gets squared away, I'll be sure to tell you the whole story."
A tiny smile hovers over Cameron's lips as he nods and replies, "That's good to know. Enough little pieces and you can figure out the puzzle. Right then. Well, if you need anything else, just give me a holler. You know where to find me." And with that Cameron turns and heads out.