Post by Agent Keri Rogers on Jul 3, 2021 5:39:36 GMT
Thirteen innocent people.
Thirteen hospital rooms.
Thirteen patients.
Agent Keri Rogers sighed tersely as she flipped through the folder she'd been given on the case. All the victims were of completely different ages, different genders, races… The only commonality was that they all lived or worked in San Diego. The oldest woman, Darla Andrews, was already dead, and her husband, Joseph, was in critical condition. The chances of him living were getting slimmer by the second. Funnily enough, it wasn't the poisoning that had done it...no, it was the car crash they'd gotten into when Joseph's throat began to close.
The rest were young and healthy, but the toxin had still knocked them on their respective asses. The youngest victim, Dora Gomez, was only ten years old, and the photo of her splotchy skin and wide eyes in that hospital bed were already haunting Agent Rogers. She picked up her pace, heels clicking rhythmically down the hall as she approached the cyber division hall.
She knocked on Atticus West's door, but didn't wait for a reply to go in. She walked in like she owned the place and stood over the man with her arms crossed.
"Agent Rogers," she announced by way of introduction. "I assume you saw we've been assigned a case together?" She'd been given a folder because she liked hard copies, but these computer people usually got a digital file instead.
Atticus wasn’t at all phased by the sound of the knock on his door before it was so rudely opened before he even said “enter.” His dark eyes were too busy reading across the data sheets that he had pulled up, quickly typing in the next bit he needed, and waiting for that window. His hands were a blur across the keyboard, and the Cher song that was playing through his air pods had half his attention as he hummed quietly away.
He knew someone was there, as he always was somewhat considerate in keeping his music down so he could hear if anyone needed him, but he was currently in the zone. This newest case was proving to be quite interesting as took in what they had so far. Already he was pulling up medical records on what each of the victims took byways of medicine. Trying to see if there was any connection and if that’s how the toxin was getting spread.
With another quick tap, and click, Atticus finally turned in his seat towards the woman. Pulling his air pods out that were somewhat hidden by his stringy, very messy hair. He blinked up at the blond, noting with a quick look she looked almost mad and looked like he almost hadn’t heard her at first. He set the AirPods down then held up a hand. “I did, Atticus West.” He offered her a small smile and waited for her to shake his hand before he immediately went back to looking at the files. “I’m cross-referencing any medications the victims might have had in common, any possible acquaintances, co-works, people they might have come into contact with- The usual cross-reference cocktail.” He liked to call it. He was immediately jumping back into work since that was what he’d been doing when she’d walked in.
His phone dinged in his pocket and he pulled it out, seeing his Words with Friends notification, and quickly slid his thumb over it. His eyes narrowed playfully as he looked at the word his latest opponent had used. "Touché Lady A..." He murmured at what Scarlett_Letter used. He quickly typed out his counter word, his thumbs flying across the digital keyboard before he closed it, and put his phone back in his pocket.
Last Edit: Jul 3, 2021 6:25:38 GMT by Atticus West
Post by Agent Keri Rogers on Jul 6, 2021 0:03:04 GMT
At first, Keri suspected he wasn't aware she was even there, but after finishing what he was doing, he lifted his hands to his ears...Oh, headphones. Hm. Some people did work better with music, though she wasn't one of them.
Keri was surprised by the offer of a handshake, and mildly impressed. Point one in West's favor for professionalism.
“I’m cross-referencing any medications the victims might have had in common, any possible acquaintances, co-works, people they might have come into contact with- The usual cross-reference cocktail.”
Point two. Huh, she might not hate this one.
She watched files and programs flicker across his screen curiously as he worked, at least until his phone pinged and he pulled it out to retaliate in a game of Words with Friends. Minus a point for games at work. He was quick about it, but it still lost him points. There wasn't any time to waste here, not even a little.
"Anything interesting with the victims so far?" she asked, intending to pull his attention back to the work at hand. "At a glance, they seem fairly random, but they must have all been poisoned at the same place. Doctors are saying they were dosed around 11 am Sunday...A common church, maybe?"
He didn’t need to be told to get his attention back to the task on hand. Those that worked with Atticus would quickly realize his attention never left. His mind was constantly working even if he took his little words with friends breaks.
“Hmmm, not likely religious involvement.” He said without missing a beat. His fingers flew across the keyboard as several files suddenly appeared on-screen showing to be some of the victims. “These two are protestants, this one’s an Irish-catholic, Mr. Kalaviniski is Jewish, and this one goes to Mosque.” He rattled off. Atty lifted his brown eyes up to look at the woman before his eyes were back on the screens. “However,” He tapped a key on the keyboard and a map suddenly showed up with different pins. “They all live relatively in the same area.” He informed her.
“Was there an event that happened over the weekend at all?” He suddenly asked. Atticus never got out, so he wasn’t aware of carnivals or fairs that might have been going on. “Block party maybe…” He muttered under his breath. If the victims all lived in a certain area, the likely hood they were all at the same event was higher. And at the moment, it could be their only lead.
Post by Agent Keri Rogers on Jul 13, 2021 19:05:14 GMT
“Hmmm, not likely religious involvement.” He said without missing a beat. His fingers flew across the keyboard as several files suddenly appeared on-screen showing to be some of the victims. “These two are protestants, this one’s an Irish-catholic, Mr. Kalaviniski is Jewish, and this one goes to Mosque.” He rattled off.
Keri grudgingly returned the point. He didn't seem as distracted as she'd thought. That was good.
“However,” He tapped a key on the keyboard and a map suddenly showed up with different pins. “They all live relatively in the same area.” He informed her.
“Was there an event that happened over the weekend at all?”
Agen Rogers leaned closer to the screen, reading the street names of the area. It was a nice-ish suburban area, mostly one neighborhood although it overlapped a little with some older housing nearby. What was near there? Houses, a park, a few small shops… She frowned.
"There's a city park there," she pointed at a small green patch on the screen. "Would an event there be listed on the city website?"
She internally cursed the fact she didn't pay attention to local events. When she was here long enough to actually relax, she spent most of her time closed in her apartment with books. She didn't like to be out and about; it felt too exposed. Like she was in a sniper's sights at every moment.