Heavy Downpour 8U

[keyrack]

WHO Murphy Pendleton (keyrack) and Agent Norman Jayden (nahmanjayden)
WHAT While closing the files for the Origami Killer case, Norman Jayden begins to suspect that a boy named Charlie Pendleton was the Origami Killer's first victim, and goes to Maine to speak to his father about his son's technically unsolved murder.
WHEN Some time after the Origami Killer case is closed, and after Murphy escapes from Silent Hill and Sewell goes to prison.
WHERE Murphy's garage


Murphy loved working with his hands. The feeling of the tangible things like metal and tools under his fingers reminded him that he was alive, that the world was still concrete and that he had not faded into nothingness in that horrible town. And so, it made perfect sense to him to rent a small garage after he was able to come out of hiding, after Sewell was convicted for what happened to Frank. The thought of going back to Boston was tempting, but there were too many memories. It was really on a whim that he ended up settling down in Maine, where his only real friend was. Officer Cunningham was the only person he interacted with much on a steady basis, and he was expecting her to come by today, so when he heard footsteps, he tightened a bolt a bit more and craned his neck so his voice would carry better from under the Impala he was working on.

"Just a second!" he called out, and then went back to the stubborn vehicle. "Under the car back here. Just be a minute." Today was a sunny day, and the light carried under the car from the open garage door; he'd wanted to let in a little light and take advantage of the good spring weather. Though occasionally the pollen made him sneeze, it was still nice to get some fresh air. It also made it easier to work with all the light that came in, and he was able to finish up with the muffler quicker than normal. Which made it so he was able to slide out on the creeper only moments after his visitor arrived.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, grabbing for a rag and wiping some of the grease from his hands. There was still some on his face and on his neck, but he had no way of knowing. "Glad you could make it. Figured maybe we could--" and that was when he looked up and saw an unfamiliar face rather than Officer Cunningham's.

Well, shit.

"Shit. I thought you were someone else. Here to pick up a car?" he was still sitting down on the creeper and he stood, tucking the grease stained rag into his pocket. For a moment he thought the man was the owner of the Chevy he'd just finished last night, but he was pretty sure the man had come in in overalls every other time he'd met him. This guy... didn't look like someone who'd bring a car to a dumpy little one-man auto shop. He was wearing a nice suit.

Comments

[keyrack]

Wetting his lips with his tongue, Murphy gave Norman a long, curious look and then he nodded slowly, getting what the other man was asking. He wanted his cooperation in getting to whatever evidence might be left, and it would be inside that storage locker. And obviously, Norman couldn't get in.

"You want me to head down to Boston and open the locker," Murphy filled in the blanks Norman had left implied. As much as Norman might think it was a lot to ask, Murphy wasn't really all that inconvenienced by something of the sort. He had no family, he was his own boss, and he really only had one friend. Letting her know he would be out of town for a few days would be an easy task. "I could do that. Not as much to ask as you're thinking."

[nahmanjayden]

"Really?" Norman was surprised and it showed. He hadn't expected it to be this easy. In fact, he'd been trying to come up with some way to make it worth his while when Murphy had spoken. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Pendleton, that would be extremely helpful."

He felt his shoulders relax slightly at the prospect of having something to do. Norman hated free time. Hated having nothing to do, especially when there was something like this going on. Children dying while he sat there uselessly twiddling his fingers and inhaling fucking drugs. Boredom was his worst enemy mostly for that reason. With boredom came memories and thoughts and pain that he didn't want. And there were only a few ways to cure that.

"Um, you can go ahead and, uh... and call me when you have the time." Why did he feel so light-headed all of a sudden? "Whenever's most convenient for you."

[keyrack]

"Really," Murphy responded with a nod. It occurred to him why Norman seemed to surprised; not many people had so few attachments, so little they needed to close up and take care of before they could up and leave town. He'd set it up this way on purpose, he felt, even if it was unconscious. As much as he wanted to push his roots into the ground, he was so used to running, to packing up and moving on from all the time he'd had to evade the police after Silent Hill that by now, he was good at it. And bad at doing the opposite. He didn't even have any house plants.

"Whenever's best for the investigation," he added, figuring any time was as good as any. "Can always shut down the garage when I need to. Not much around the house that I need to worry about disappearin'; don't really need a house sitter." He was just rambling, maybe because he didn't want to mention that he really had one person who would even notice if he up and disappeared. "I've got somebody I have to let know or she'll worry, but otherwise, I'm pretty portable."

He did his best to make it sound less depressing than it really was. Shit, Murphy. It was moments like these that made him really look at his life. "Need to pack a couple of things, but otherwise, I'm sure you've got my number in your records." The 'call me when you have time' tipped him off to the fact that Norman expected to be able to come with him. Though he wasn't crazy about having a travel companion, he supposed it could be worse. And childrens' lives were at stake.

[nahmanjayden]

Don't worry, Murphy, Norman's even more pathetic than you. He nodded and looked at the ground before looking back up at Murphy. "As soon as physically possible would be best for the investigation." He recalled the relentless rain that still fell over that city, and realized then that the killer could have another victim by now.

He gave him a stern look, then. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pendleton, but I am going to have to go with you." It was clear that Murphy wasn't too keen on the idea and, honestly, Norman wasn't either. Company wasn't one of his strong suits. "There could be indispensable evidence in that lettah and I can't run the risk of any more contamination."

No offense, Murph, but you've never really run a crime scene before.

[keyrack]

If Murphy only knew just how pathetic Norman was, he'd probably just feel sad for him. "Physically possible," he said with a nod, thinking things over in his head. "Tomorrow'd probably be fine, if that's not waiting too soon. Figure I gotta book a flight, pack, that sorta thing." He knows in any situation where children are in danger, time is a sensitive thing.

"Fine," he gave in when Norman actually pointed it out out loud. "Guess that makes sense. I'll stay outta your way. I'll just open the locker and then let you do your thing." Whatever that is. Because it's true, Murphy never has run a crime scene. "If you need to leave sooner, let me know."

[nahmanjayden]

"Thank you, Mr. Pendleton. Truly." There was relief in his eyes but it lessened slightly when he looked out the garage door and noticed clouds on the horizon. Some kind of omen, or just a coincidence?

"Tomorrow'll be fine." He confirmed, attempting to mask the uncertainty in his voice. Tomorrow might be fine. But another child might be standing in a deep well by then. "And don't worry about the flight, you can go with me. Save you a lot of money." Yes, there's nothing worse than the price of a last minute flight. Not to mention the kind of seat you're likely to get.

"Again, thank you." He really can't stress how relieving it is to have someone so willing to help out. And in such a major way.

[keyrack]

"No problem," Murphy assured him. With all the things he'd done wrong at this point, he wanted to take any chance he could to make all of that up. And the fact that this could help some children... well... that was just what made him so driven to do this.

Looking up, he tried not to notice the clouds. "Thanks," he said gratefully, glad to be spared the hassle of booking a flight. All of this was happening so fast and so out of the blue that he found himself a bit disoriented, and he hoped it wouldn't be for nothing. Murphy had always been a model prisoner, the cooperative sort, and it showed now as he made plans with the agent. "In that case, if you'd rather leave tonight, I'd just need a little time to get some things together."

[nahmanjayden]

Norman nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not gonna lie and say that wouldn't be better." If Murphy was offering to get this done sooner, hell, why would he say no? To try and come off as more easy going? Because that sure as hell wasn't how he felt right now. "The sooner the better, you understand."

This was going quite a bit better than he'd anticipated and he was pleased. Well, as pleased as you can be when you're working on a case like this with no real assistance other than monetary and transportation related matters.

"So, you can just call me when you're ready and, uh... I guess I'll come pick you up or something." God, he was bad at this. He didn't envy Murphy having to spend a plane ride with him.

[keyrack]

With a firm, understanding nod, Murphy glanced over at the business card on the tool bench. "Sure," he responded. "I'll head home, grab everything I need, and give you a call." Norman was lucky Murphy was a spontaneous person in general now, after so much time having to constantly shift his location, and it made all of this much easier.

Between the two of them, it was going to be the most awkward, antisocial plane ride in history. Murphy wiped his hands reflexively on his coveralls and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Guess I'd better close up the garage, then." He was just making idle, out loud chitchat that was really more relevant in his head, and he was already scooping up his tools and putting them in his toolbox by the end of the sentence.

[nahmanjayden]

"Sure, whatevah you need to do." He backed up so as to stay out of the man's way. This was already getting awkward.

"So, I'll just be goin then." He backed up a few more steps. "Thanks again, Mr. Pendleton." He called as he turned to walk away. Boy, this was not going to be fun.