new york wolves } { of lawyers and secret hunters

[beanchaointe]

Lydia: [is standing in the lobby of Specter and Ross, looking super annoyed. Her eyes wander over the faces and fixtures because even though she's only five two, she's being super intimidating at the moment and giving off the impression that she is not one to be trifled with]

Sam: [and here comes the 6'4 3/4 tall associate with a file folder in his hand. Harvey had asked Mike, and Mike had assigned it to Sam, so that was why Sam was heading across the lobby.] Ms. Martin? [he looks up and sees her, his eyes shifting a bit because he can see she's annoyed] I'm sorry you were kept waiting. Mr. Spector is in a meeting and it seems he won't be out for a while, and asked me to sit with you.

Lydia: [she gives him a thin smile, before glancing over to Sam. She's clearly not bothered by the fact that he has a whole foot on her, and she crosses her arms in front of her chest] How about you ask Mr. Spector what the hell I'm doing here.

Sam: Why don't we slip into a room? Can I get you something to drink? A snack? [he motioned for her to walk with him as they headed towards the meeting rooms. one of the little screens outside one had Winchester Meeting on it, and he opened the door. There was a tiny bar along the window that had glasses and a coffee carafe, a fridge with sodas and waters and milk, and a little basket of cookies and nuts]

Lydia: [grits her teeth but she follows him, not wanting to make a scene. She steps inside the meeting room, and just glares at him because she wants to get this over with] I don't know what you expect from me. The only thing I did was find the body.

Sam: Well, from what I've seen, Ms. Martin, you've got a habit of finding bodies. And our firm tends to find that coincidences like that have a bit more behind them than just stumbling over a body.

Lydia: [and that earns him a full on glare because she went through this in Chicago and she is not doing it again] I can't help it if I'm unlucky. But the police have never charged me with anything.

Sam: We're not charging you either, Ms. Martin. We're simply trying to establish a timeline of events. [he rubbed a hand over his face. He hated this case]

Lydia: Well, I don't know how much help I'm going to be. I just found the body.

Sam: Do you remember what time it was when you found it?

Lydia: [her eyes falter for a moment because she doesn't really remember. She was a little out of it at the time] It was late. I was on my way home from class.

Sam: And which class was that?

Lydia: Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations.

Sam: [and he looked up at her, a small smile on his face] Seriously?

Lydia: Seriously. [she sighs as she goes to sit in one of the seats]

Sam: [thinks a moment] Finite Volume or element method?

Lydia: Element. But they're really not all that different - elemental method is just dealing with boundaries while volume is dealing with wider areas. [she almost sounds as if she's bored as she says it, no really, ask her a harder question]

Sam: [no, it was just enough to believe her, that's all. The smile faded though, as he looked back at the file] So what time is that class?

Lydia: Class ends at 7:30.

Sam: [he looks at the murder timeline] You didn't call the cops until around nine. You don't remember what you did for those ninety minutes?

Lydia: I went for a walk. [not entirely a lie, but she doesn't really remember where she was walking] Is that a crime?

Sam: No, but that's a long walk to take in those kind of shoes on Manhattan concrete after dark.

Lydia: I've been wearing heels since I was old enough to walk. You get used to it.

Sam: And when you arrived at the scene, you called in the murder AND stayed at the scene? Why did you do that and not just leave it anonymous?

Lydia: I was told to wait.

Sam: Most people don't. That’s why it's an anonymous call.

Lydia: Yeah, well. I try to avoid looking a suspect and getting myself into situations like this, so the sooner I can give my statement the better. [they've gotten to know her pretty well at the twelfth]

Sam: [he just nods, then reached over to turn on the mic] Fire away.

Lydia: As I just said. I left my class, decided to go for a walk. While I was walking I came across Mr. Warner.

Sam: And you don't remember exactly where you were walking for those 90 minutes from when you class ended until you found Mr. Warner?

Lydia: No. I was trying to clear my head. When I do I tend to ... wander a little.

Sam: You know in that time, from where the campus is, to there, to the address listed for you on campus... you actually could have gotten there, killed Mr. Warner, gone home, showered, changed and restumbled over the scene.

Lydia: [presses her lips together and shakes her head] Do I need an attorney?

Sam: Not unless you feel the need to. But the fact you have 90 minutes of unaccounted time does lead to show that there are others who could have had the opportunity.

Lydia: [purses her lips] And do you not think that Detective Beckett and her team at the twelfth precinct wouldn't have investigated that and arrested me if there were evidence to prove that I did it?

Sam: Perhaps or perhaps your friendship with a one Stiles Stilinski that lives currently with Detective Hale's family may have something to do with it.

Lydia: Or maybe it's just a matter of simple physics. The man was twice my size, I don't think I could have overpowered him quite so easily without someone noticing or him, I don't know ... surviving?

Sam: You'd be surprised at what adrenaline will allow one to accomplish. [or other means. Not that Sam speaks about that out loud]

Lydia: [studies him shrewdly for a moment, before across the table and taking the pen from his hand] Stand up.

Sam: Um, okay? [stands]

Lydia: Now, if I remember correctly, Mr. Warner is about your height and weight and he was stabbed, in the chest at a perpendicular angle to his body, in the upper chest area. [she holds up her hand at the angle indicated to demonstrate, which is over her head at an awkward angle for delivering a large amount of force] Mr. Warner was stabbed three times uniformly to the point where the knife was driven in to the hilt. If I were going to stab you, I'd aim much lower, where it would be easier for me to use more force. [she takes the pen and she shifts to demonstrate, aiming more in the stomach area]

Sam: [smirks and grabs her hand, holding it gently.] Unless, of course, you aimed a kick at that same area, or lower, bringing me to my knees. [which he falls too, and then puts the pen against his chest in a much better angle]

Lydia: [and him at eye level, which is ... interesting] There would be evidence of bruising ante-mortem. [gestures to his pants] And the alley was muddy. There would have been dirt on his knees and there wasn't. He fell backwards, once. That was it.

Sam: [he smirked up at her] You've got a good memory of the alley.

Lydia: [watches him for a moment, before she moves to sit again] I was there for a while.

Sam: [gets up and looks at the file] Twenty three minutes, to be precise. And what did you do in those minutes beyond look at the cleanliness of the ground?

Lydia: [shrugs] I waited.

Sam: Next to a dead body in an alley in New York during the evening.

Lydia: I know what you're thinking. It's quite the glamourous life I lead.

Sam: You don't really look like the type. You look more like the uptown socialite.

Lydia: Looks can be deceiving. [it's a game Lydia's been playing her whole life. And she's honestly surprised he hasn't dug into her mental history yet]

Sam: [oh, he has but it's not relevant to him. But it was interesting reading and Sam knew what Eichen House was all too well] I guess they are. Well, that's all I needed. [and Harvey will figure that Mike was right and go the other route since the witness was a bust]

Lydia: Great. So can I go? I have places to be.

Sam: Yes, you can. I'll walk you out.

Lydia: [nods as she gets up to follow him out]

Sam: [he will walk her outside where the cameras weren't watching them, and after a moment] You know, if finding dead bodies are a habit of yours, I guess all someone would have to do is listen for your scream to find the next one.

Lydia: [she falters for a moment, not looking at him, and her weight shifts from one foot to another] Who knows? My luck might be changing.

Sam: [there's a small smirk, the one of a hunter recognizing his prey. Though Sam gave up that life long ago, but he can still play the game when he had to] Maybe. But then again, looks can be deceiving. Have a good afternoon, Ms. Martin. [he held out his card] If you have any questions, or think of something else you need.

Lydia: [glances back, studying him for a moment before taking the card and heading on her way] Thanks. [and she's going to make a beeline right for the subway]