Frank nods along as his partner speaks. "Right. The truth will 'work for us' just fine, thanks." Simmons was handling the interview fine, but the old man had to get a word in edge-wise, the way that smarmy Pruitt (?) was still treating them like a couple of trick-or-treaters who'd shown up after lights out with toilet paper in their candy sacks, instead of the goddam Feds. Who's a guy got to waterboard to get some respect in this place?
Sterling leans back in his seat. "The 'truth.' Tall order." He's quiet for a moment as he thinks about his answer. "A lot of ground to cover, there. Well, let's start with Eddie. Why did Eddie try to bribe you? Because he's young, Agent Simmons, he's young and his entire job deals with money. How much there is, where it is, where it's going and where it's been; who has it, who wants it, and how they're going to get it. You spend all day focused on one thing, it's going to affect your outlook. If your job focuses on homicide investigations everyone starts to look like a suspect--isn't that right, Frank?"
Sterling pauses to wet his whistle before continuing.
"You spend your day focusing on people and their money, it's not too hard to convince yourself that that's all that drives people. It's hard to convince yourself otherwise. Why did he try to bribe you two? Because he thought he could meet your price."
Tim thought for a second on the idea of Eddie believing that he could meet their price. While he was pretty sure that he had one, Tim knew that it wouldn't be money. You didn't do this job for money. "So the question remains how did you know so much about our investigation?"
"It isn't exactly a secret, the investigation," Sterling says with another shrug. "And in our position we have more access to things than you might think. But let me stray for a second," he adds, putting down his cola. "There's something you said that I just want to touch on for a moment."
Sterling leans forward, hands flat on the desk. "Agents. A young boy drowned in that river. And it's a tragedy, it really is. My heart goes out to his parents--no one should have to carry that weight. But, Agent Simmons, you sound like you want to solve this case. And I'm sorry, son, but there is nothing to solve.
"It was an accident. A boat broke up and that boy died. There's no one to arrest here, there's no culpability. You going to slap cuffs on the river?" Sterling lets out a heavy sigh and waves a hand at the two. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to monologue."
Frank quirks an eyebrow. "The boat didn't have an 'accident.' It decayed at a rate far faster than science says is possible. We collected evidence and now, we're gonna find out who knows better than Science." Rizzo folds his arms in front of his chest. "Besides me, of course."
"'Decayed at a rate far faster than science says is possible,'" Sterling repeats flatly, and finishes his cola. "And what evidence do you have for this? Do you have anything that's going to stand up in court? Who are you going to arrest? Knowing what you know about the situation, do you believe you're even going to get that far? I don't think you're going to, and hell, I believe you. But most people won't. Super-fast boat-decay? You're fighting an uphill battle, there.
"Meanwhile, in the Real World, where this accident occurred--this accident puts the onus of responsibility on the city in our litigation-happy society. Our job--the people of this office--is to prevent things like that, because we simply cannot afford multi-million dollar payouts to grieving parents. Which is why Eddie decided to try and enlist your help. Put the blame for this on the Captain, a drunken lout with two assault arrests--a man who probably was drunk, that day--and you help this state while giving some solace to a couple that lost their son far too early. That's as close to Justice as you're going to get."
"You don't need us to put the blame on the Captain of that boat, there are a dozen federal, state and city agencies that would be willing to follow your line of reasoning and do what you need them to do. Each of whom would probably have more credibility than our organization." Tim looked at the man with a genuine smile as if he was telling a joke. "Heck we're a federal agency, with the pull your office has shown so far you could get us taken off the case or even have it dumped in some other agency's lap. Start a big turf battle that nobody wants to be a part of." Tim sits up in the chair.
"All of those options are far more valid than firing a shot across the bow of a federal agency. As for not being able to solve the case, well after all that's happened would you drop this case?" The bribes and attempted cover up had made the case personal for a pair of Agents with nothing to really lose.
Sterling nods as he sits back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. "Well that's all very true, Tim. But getting DHS off the case would have taken a lot of time and effort and expense, and I didn't feel it prudent. I could have used other agencies to affect the changes we needed but our files indicate a certain... tenacity, amongst your department. Which I think we've seen is true," he adds with a smile. "Given that, we couldn't afford that you'd come across a discrepancy and dig up something deeper. No. We had to involve you. Unfortunately our method of how to do so didn't quite take.
"Besides which," he adds, "We have a lot of pull amongst locals and state agencies, sure. But getting in good with los federales? We couldn't just pass that up."
Tim sighed at the whole situation. "So it seems that we are at an impasse then. Your office wishes for the case to be closed with an easy conclusion, while Agent Rizzo and myself have shown our commitment to effecting a certain outcome, regardless of how impossible it might seem." The former, god that word stung, FBI Agent thinks for a second about the direction that this meeting had taken.
"So what are the chances that your office decides to assist our investigation?" It was a crazy idea but well this whole damn situation was crazy. Hell it had begun with an attempted bribery of two federal agents in a fucking Denny's booth and gotten weirder from there. "I know that you think that this whole case is a loser but given that we're not willing to give it up you can at least try and assist us in solving the case. Say we solve it, we catch the bad guy or girl, everyone from both offices smiles for the media and you save the state all that money." He smiles for a second. "If we don't get anywhere you can still call in a report from every agency in the state saying whatever you want them to say. Plus you've covered your ass by at least co-operating with the official investigation."
He let the last statement hang in the air for a minute. "I can't make any promises but maybe, if everything goes well and we all become best friends forever, Eddie's screw up gets tagged as a misunderstanding. A screw up by an inexperienced employee attempting to a request for co-operation between agencies. Like I said I can't promise anything but I am sure that such miscommunications have happened in the past." Tim felt sick to his stomach but a kid was still dead and every moment they spent dealing with this bullshit the trail on that case got a little bit colder.
Sterling nods as he listens to Tim, his expression indicating acknowledgment more than agreement. "You're right. I do think the case is lost. But if you want to keep at it, it's federal money you're throwing away--and federal money is not my problem. And I know a good compromise when I see one. So how do you think ORIM can help you?"
So who can you introduce me to?
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