Between Limestone Ruins

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hannah followed Walker into a small room that was empty except for a metal table that was clearly screwed into the floor, and the three chairs around it, one of which was occupied with a young woman with an incredibly damp face, a result of the tears that still fell like Niagara Falls. 

It seemed cruel to interview a witness in an interrogation room, but the Kingston police seemed at their competence limit and full capacity with this case.

As he sank into a chair opposite Amy Gilroy, Walker's gruff intensity dissolved; he tried to hand Amy a tissue from the table with a gentleness the huge man didn't seem capable of. Despite his efforts to look non-threatening, Amy shrunk back from the offered tissue. Apparently size trumped demeanour in fear factor.

Hannah sat gingerly in the cold metal chair next to Walker. She was going to have to take point on this, she was just waiting for Walker to see it. She didn't have to wait long. As he let the tissue flutter to the table between himself and Amy, he looked at Hannah with a raised eyebrow. Your turn.

"Hi, Amy. I'm Hannah, this is Alec," Walker shot her a glare at the use of his first name. "We work for the RCMP. We understand that today is awful, but we appreciate you coming in to speak with us."

She used her voice to try and coax Amy's face out of her hands. It worked. Amy's hands fell to her lap to reveal red and swollen eyes. A result of the tears that had fallen since she heard her best friend was dead.

"You're going to find the guy who hurt her?" Amy's voice came through stronger than even she seemed to expect from herself. She was angry, she was here to avenge her friend, and she was searching Hannah's face for proof she was dedicated and worthy of the cause.

"We're going to find the monster that did this."

Hannah knew you didn't promise family members anything in an investigation. Luckily Hannah was not a cop, and she had no intention of slowing down until the guy who hurt this woman's friend was behind bars anyway. 

Walker was well aware of this; he didn't even blink at her aversion to protocol. In all honesty, he felt the same way as Hannah on this case. Solve it or die trying. That might have been how the woman had won his respect. Was it fair? Healthy? Hell no. But none of this was.

Amy nodded. Whatever she saw in Hannah's face she liked it. 

Walker couldn't blame her; Hannah's emotions frequently played out on her face. Plus, she was inherently trustworthy and one look in her eyes would reassure you that she was going to do everything in her power to take care of you.

"Madison and I were at the bar-" She paused to clear her throat from the sob that threatened to burst out. "-the night she died. We go out once a month to de-stress. Dance, drink a little, have fun, you know? She left before me. She was picked up by some guy. I didn't-I shouldn't have let her go. I-"

"You're not to blame for this, Amy," Walker said gently. "The only person to blame is the person who did this." She nodded with feigned confidence. 

"Did you get a look at the man she left with?" he prodded even more gently.

Amy nodded again, closed her eyes tightly, and scrunched up her face. She sucked in a sharp breath and let it out slowly, before opening her eyes and fixing her gaze on her hands in her lap.

"He was tall-" she recanted: "not as tall as you though." She nodded her head towards Walker, fixing him briefly with a deer in the headlights look. Hannah realized the woman was probably in shock. She found herself impressed Amy was even coherent. "He was blond, almost like a strawberry blond? Like yours Hannah. Actually... exactly like yours I think."

Hannah struggled to keep her expression neutral, but she'd rather the case stop being so damn personal.

Amy kept going, the words spilling out now. "He was really thin, and he was pale, like he hadn't seen the sun in years? He was attractive, or he could have been attractive if he put in more effort... if that makes sense?

Madison always saw the potential in people; she saw what they could be. When she told me she was leaving she said that this guy could have been Baywatch level hot if he just saw his potential. She wanted to help him gain his confidence. And then he-he-"

"It's okay, Amy," Hannah said, reaching out towards the crying woman for a second before thinking better of it and withdrawing. She wanted to be professional and non-emotional in front of Walker. "That's all extremely helpful. You're doing incredible."

Amy gave Hannah a weak smile. "I don't think I have anything else for you. It was too dark to tell much more than that. No eye colour. I didn't see if they got in a car or walked somewhere...oh god Maddy."

That was as much as they were getting from Amy; she had burst into tears, losing control of her breath as the sobs started up.

"Thank you for your time today, Amy," Walker was initiating an escape. "If you think of anything else please don't hesitate to call us." He pulled a business card out of the wallet he'd withdrawn from within his suit jacket.

Amy took the card from him despite crying so hard Hannah hadn't been sure she'd even heard Walker.

Hannah followed Walker's lead as he left the room.

"We just leave her there?"

"She doesn't want to cry in front of a couple of cops," Walker replied. "Trust me, she's relieved we've left."

"Oh," Hannah said. "I guess that makes a lot of sense."

"Try not to sound surprised, sunshine," Walker teased. "I'm smarter than I look."

"I didn't mea-"

"Hannah," Walker laughed. "I'm joking. Don't worry about it."

"I just have so much to learn. I'm in way over my head. You make investigating look so natural!"

"Yeah but I wasn't getting that girl to talk in there," Walker explained. "That was all you."

"Yeah, only because she's scared of big dude apparently."

"Lots of women won't speak to male cops and I can't blame them, as a gender we suck pretty hard." Walker admitted. "Plus, some cops take advantage of their position and act above the law.

There are lots of witnesses that won't talk to me. But with no guidance from me you got her to talk. Maybe you are a natural at this."

Hannah smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks Walker, that means a lot."

"Don't thank me for the truth, Morris."

"Too bad," Hannah was grinning. "I already did." Walker just rolled his eyes as he opened the door to their team's conference room. Hannah flashed him an even brighter grin as she passed under his arm.