13789/Cold Cases Stink. I mean sometimes really.

Cold Cases Stink. I mean sometimes really.
Date of Scene:	05 September 2021
Location:	Yonkers, Westchester County
Synopsis:	Investigation is begun. Cold Case to solve.
Cast of Characters:	10070, X-23

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Wendell Vaughn (10070) has posed:
    So, cold cases are a dime a dozen in New York. For every high profile case that gets solved, something like 2 or 3 go unsolved. There is something of an underground fascination with such cases. Especially ones where the victim was a child or other total innocent.

    Such is the case in the disappearance and presumed murder of Hannah Mayes. She was eleven years old when she vanished. The last anyone reported seeing her was at Bridgeview Middle School. She left to walk the half mile home, and was never seen again.

    The case records interviews with the single mother who has since relocated to Pennsylvania, and the father... the mother's Ex-Husband, who was the primary suspect. He still lives in the area, and has never been seen having a child around. The case mentions that the father was listed as a suspect as a perfunctory thing, but the agreed upon scenario likely involved someone picking Hannah up on the street, someone unrelated to the family. But nobody had any reports to indicate specifics...

    As a cold case, this one is seven years old. Hannah would have been 18 were she around....

X-23 has posed:
Laura may be the only child in Canada and North America who grew up reading cold cases for bedtime stories. It was part of her indoctrination. Indoctrination that by any other name would be simple abuse.

Laura's relationship to cold cases has evolved over time. At first, they were reading exercises that became classes on problem-solving. It wasn't until later, as a young teenager, that the victims and the killers took on a life of their own. More recently, she has begun to identify with the victims and oddly with the killers. She understands methods much better, and as she matures: motivation.

Relating to the victims has been the latest step in her complex history with cold cases. It is a significant victory of sorts, seeking justice for its own sake and for the sake of the families who lost someone they loved. Secretly, she is proud of herself, for she is that one bit less a cold-blooded killer.

The latest case occupying her is right here in town. One of the primary suspects, dismissed long ago by the police, here as well. She disagrees with their findings. Victims almost always know their abusers though there are notable exceptions.

Wendell Vaughn (10070) has posed:
    Richard Kavanaugh is the father's name. He signed off on custody when Hannah was an infant. He did not fight it either. It was as if he was not interested in being a parent. According to the records, when he found out his new wife had become pregnant, that's when he walked out. So Hannah never really had a live in father while she was alive...

    While that makes Richard himself a total loser of a human being, the police were never able to find solid evidence of his involvement.

    When Hannah was six, he began showing an interest in getting to know his daughter. He even managed to convince his Ex-Wife (Becky Mayes) to let Hannah come visit one weekend out of each month.

    The investigators noted that both mother -and- father seemed distraught over the disappearance. But they suspected that Richard was crying crocodile tears' to convince the police. Again... it went cold due to a lack of evidence and further leads.

    The detective who worked the case has since retired. It was one of his last cases... The ninth precinct was his home for a quarter century. Detective Alan Hauptmann....

X-23 has posed:
Another step in Laura breaking her conditioning has been learning to cooperate. In the largest sense of the word, that means with anybody. Through various methods she was forced to become a loner and do everything on her own. More specifically, the idea of working with the authorities was a big no-no. When she gets wind of Alan Hauptmann, Detective while researching the case online, she reads what he has posted but has no intention of contacting him.

The cursor blinks on the screen as Laura lightly taps a key, trying to decide whether to go to another part of the site or actually answer the man. An allergy to the police makes her hesitate but the quality of his post changes her mind.

She posts: "I've been following leads on Hannah. I think there is reason to reopen questioning the father who abandoned her and then (not so coincidentally) reappears in her life around the time of the investigation. Want to talk?"" ~X-23

Wendell Vaughn (10070) has posed:
    As an investigator who refused to give up his notepad and pencil (wooden, not mechanical) to the day he retired.. Alan has learned to use a computer. And his best way to keep occupied has become crime solving chat rooms. His handle on this one is Det Jaeger. Aka the German word for Hunter.

---> Absolutely. I remember that case like it was yesterday. I never could figure out if Mr. Kavanaugh was hiding something, or just a dick. We executed a search warrant at his home, a Brooklyn house, and while we found evidence that Hannah had been there, the evidence all seemed to match up with the timetable of her last visit. If he -was- the one who did it, then he's a cold blooded man and a perfectionist.

---> You should be aware. This wasn't the -only- similar disappearance in that general area, within the span of five years. I told my Captain that I suspected this was related to other cases, but that was dismissed.

X-23 has posed:
Laura impatiently taps her fingers, stretching in place as she stares at the screen. Typing quickly, she replies, grimly amused at talking to an ex-policeman, an old-dick, but the guy seems to have his head screwed on straight.

"Okay. So, he's a dick but not necessarily a murdering dick unless he is the one that was behind the other disappearances. What kind of disappearances?'

Wendell Vaughn (10070) has posed:
    On the other end, the Detective, the lifelong Hunter takes a sip of his hot cocoa. Yes, he likes hot cocoa. Sue him. It was something his late wife made him do... switch from coffee to cocoa. He smirks a bit and shrugs before he types onto his laptop.

---> Right. He may be involved, but he may not be. Here's the rub. Since it has been seven years... and Hannah was the last vanished kid in that area... he may be growing complacent. He, or whomever did it.

---> Now, I've been driving by Kavanaugh's place in my own time these days.. lord knows I have plenty of free time. God, I hate being retired... loved being a cop. But that's not your problem.

---> If you are looking to solve this case, I'd be happy to scan and send you all of my personal notes on it. I'm a bit too old to go chasing this guy.

X-23 has posed:
"What the fuck?" Laura whispers to herself. "He doesn't know me from a con in Rikers doing time for making meth." Squinting at the screen, she leans back, running her fingers through her dark hair while she decides what to do.

Her fingers race over the keys, "Yeah. Send them. You sound like you've got this down. I can do the leg work. Send it to: razorhands@gmail.com if the files are big."

Wendell Vaughn (10070) has posed:
    Alan has had a lot of experience making and taking first impressions. Laura's questions were discerning. He also did a tiny bit of a background check via the website's server admins. It's not that he has any idea who she is. But he believes that she is not some criminal out to become a copycat. He trusts his instincts in these things.

---> Give me a day to put them together. I am not the most... organized when it comes to my files. But I'll send them there.

---> .... my instinct is that the father knows more than he is saying, but that he may not be -directly- involved. I think he's scared, but not of -this- if that makes any sense.

X-23 has posed:
"Awesome," comes the prompt reply. She sends, "Interesting take on things. You speculating on what he might know but not be saying?"

Outside the open window she can hear a wild game of soccer going on between mutant students. One kid rises in the air on level with her window. "Dude, it's too nice to be in. Come on out and help us kick their asses," he yells before zooming back down to the game.

Laura imagines what it is like to be walking home and being in familiar territory. She'd have known people on the block, known the stores and had her favorite haunts. It's hard to put herself in the child's place - at that age she was being used as a weapon. But, she knows that even at eleven that a normal child would be scared and disoriented if snatched off the street. To her mind, Hannah Mayes knew who ever invited her into their car. Another assumption on her part.