PHD #392: Nailing Piers
Nailing Piers
Summary: The one where Madilyn goes a little crazy regarding Kincaid's offer to get Piers' confession.
Date: 25 Mar 2042 AE
Related Logs: Damn Fine Policework
Players:
Kincaid Madilyn 
Marine Offices - Deck 6 - Battlestar Cerberus
This offices consists of desks for those under the CO, along with his desk toward the back of the room. The S1 and S2 have desks here and the place is neat as a pin, with everything in its place. At the front of the room, a Marine sits at a desk to meet people as they come in through the hatch.
Post-Holocaust Day: #392

Kincaid makes his way into the Marine offices, one of his manila folders under his arm. Whenever Danny's around, he's working a case, it seems. And whenever Danny's working a case, he's got one of those folders with him. He makes his way over to the CO's office and raps lightly on the hatch. "Major?" asks the investigator. "You got a few minutes?"

"I've got nothing but time," replies the woman. "Trying to formalize some of these shift changes long term while folks get back to duty status, as well as arranging for some down time for others given that these swarm attacks have ended for good." True to the word, there's nothing but schedules laid out on her desk, plenty of red marks made and crossed-out and written in again.

"Isn't this sort of thing what you have NCO's and platoon officers for?" asks the Lance Corporal, glancing down at the cross-outs and write-ins, a certain amount of dubiousness in his voice. "I mean, aren't you supposed to be planning our next brilliant strike against the Cylons?" But prodding aside, he places the folder on her desk. "It's about the Rene-Marie case." Indeed, the file is carefully labeled: 'Rene-Marie, Piers.'

"Well, one gives me one schedule, and all their 'leaves' line up with all the leaves in another, which leaves for a whole area uncovered and…it's a mess. It's just easier if I do it all at once and hand down my verdict chiseled into stone, as it were." At the mention of Rene-Marie, Madilyn sets down her red pen and pays closer attention. "What're the latest developments on Rene-Marie. You were going to put the squeeze on the waitress, get some more information, then move on Rene-Marie with a team of fresh faces."

"Huh. Well." Kincaid still seems dubious, giving Madilyn a 'really? this is your job?' sort of look. But it passes and he presses on with his report. "I put the squeeze on the waitress. She gave up the name of her doctor, the abortionist. I've got Lagana asking around to see what his vice is that Rene-Marie is paying and have Rian over on Elpis to put a tail on him so I can build a case. Once I flip him, I should have Rene-Marie set on the murder of Langer. But." He flips to some of his case notes. "What's of more interest is I confronted Rene-Marie about the attacks on Magnus Dekker, back on Elpis. I thought by hinting that I was looking into the abortion on the waitress, I could get him to give up the names of the two attackers."

"And what did he give you?" Madilyn asks about the confrontation with Rene-Marie. When she asks, she just sits her hands up on the desk, interlacing her fingers and watching Kincaid. She reserves judgment about how prudent it was to confront him directly until hearing what info he may or may not have given up.

"He had some threats of his own," replies Kincaid. "He has the photos from that attack, the ones that — from the right angles — make the Marines look like they're using excessive force to take down the attackers." He purses his lips. "So. We have a bit of a stand-off. He'll give up the names of the two attackers, but he wants a guarantee that they'll get a civilian trial. One that, no doubt, he will orchestrate as a way to show that the military has too much control and that the civilians can handle their affairs." In other words, he didn't get all that much. "Obviously, I didn't promise anything. But I do have an idea."

"Well, I'm certainly listening. It makes it more difficult if he does have photos that paint us in that light - and he does have them, correct? He physically showed them to you? But there may be…certain ways around his machinations even in a civilian trial." When the mention of an idea comes up, Madilyn leans back in her chair, holding onto the arms and letting Kincaid lay out the idea.

"I held them in my hands and looked at them. Sawyer Averies has them, too. She's been told that if she doesn't publish the photos, the photographer will, but she's been sitting on the story out of — well, she's been sitting on the story." Kincaid folds his hands on the desk in front of him, gathering his thoughts before saying: "Look. We're going to need some sort of civilian justice system soon — at least for some things. We can't feed civilians to the JAG. It takes up the JAG's time and doesn't endear us to the civilian populace. And we're going to bring down the hammer on Rene-Marie soon, and it'd be best if someone other than the military that's his worst enemy tries him for his crimes. So." And here's the idea: "Here's what we do. I get the goods on him for the Langer murder from the doctor. I go back to him and promise a civilian trial for the attackers if he gives up the names. He does. And then we arrest him for Langer. And among the first civilian trials? His own." He stabs a finger on the table, making this point. Hoisted by your own petard, Piers!

"You're absolutely positive we have enough to make a conviction for Langer stick? I don't want to have him tried by a group that's going to find one little hole that's just big enough for him to wiggle through and escape a conviction, because then he's going to cry rat and say that we tried to rig the civilian system to wrongly convict him, no matter if it's his crooked jury or not. Though, there are civilians still appreciative of what we're doing for them. In a random draw for the jury, I'm sure a few of them will wind up on the panel." While she thinks, she spins around little quarter turns, trying to predict all outcomes. "Command will have to be on-board with this, to give the civilians authority to try civilians for civilian crimes. We'll have to make it explicit about where civilian law and where military law holds precedence."

"I'll get enough," promises Kincaid. "I won't bring him in, I won't make any promises, until we do. Once I get the doctor, once I get a confession from the doctor that he was in on the files being altered —" His voice trails off. "That should be enough to link Piers to the murder. I'll get it, I'll come back. But I wanted to give you a heads-up on where this was all going."

"This just has to be airtight, so that any civilian jury can't find fault. That being said, it couldn't be a bad thing if we arranged for a few civilians we know happen to be more sympathetic to our mission here to be on that jury. We'll also have to put a call out for anyone with any legal experience, as Rene-Marie should be entitled to representation in any trial." She moves her hands in front of her and steeples her fingers together. "I'll have to get command on board for the idea of giving civilians their own judicial process, with MPs serving in a more civilian police capacity on Elpis, I suspect."

"Because rigging a jury is really what's going to give the impression that we're out for fair trials and not manipulating the legal system to silence dissenters." Kincaid's voice has a certain sharp edge to it. "I'll get the evidence, Major. I promise. If you can work on the political side of things, I'll nail this guy. Hades, I'll even work on the political side of things if you need me too." He is, after all — was, a political reporter.

"I'm not suggesting we rig it. Merely, give the scales a little nudge before the trial even starts. If this fleet is going to operate smoothly, we can't have little pricks like Rene-Marie running around murdering people as he sees fit. There isn't room for crime bosses or an underworld or a black market or whatever you'd like to call it in this fleet. I'm tired of being raked over the frakkin' coals by dipshits like this who want to make trouble!" The momentary lapse of rational thought is quickly past though, as she spins back to face Kincaid completely. "Just do what you have to do to nail Rene-Marie and make sure that it sticks."

"…" Kincaid's stony silence perhaps says more than any expression of outrage or disbelief at his boss's outburst might have. He simply nods. But it's not an 'okay,' nod, it's a 'let's pretend, for both of our sakes, that that never happened' nod. "Okay. Well. Thanks for your time, Major." He scoops up his folder and rises to his feet.

"Nothing illegal. Just don't roll on him until you are absolutely sure. And Lance Corporal?" she asks, standing as he stands to go. "That last bit never leaves this office. You know I'm not going to break any laws here, but for the safety and security of this fleet, we must do all we can to the very letter of the law to make sure people like Rene-Marie don't end it for the rest of us. Command will ultimately decide if, when, and how the civilians will convene juries and proceed with their own trials."

"Yeah. Okay." Kincaid nods and there is just a little bit of dubiousness in his voice, but nod he nods. "Will do, sir. Thank you for your time, sir." And, with that, he's out once more, back on the case.

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