Esther opens the door shortly after they've left for the washroom, peering in to find her closest friend (She wasn't entirely sure what they were anymore, to be fairly honest. Whenever Daniels flirted, she returned it. She never bothered calling him her boyfriend; commitment always frightened the poor boy.) sitting at his desk, eyes closed, fingers forming steeples before his face. Daniels' cheeks and nose were tinged pink, and his dark eyebags were ever so prominent against his skin, even in the dim, fluorescent lighting.
"Evening, dear. Brought Ellis in; They're signing her in now, so you ought to be preparing to send someone in for interrogation." She says, wading her way into the bullpen, eyeing the two coats that hung by the door. Both, clearly that of the two detectives she watched enter the building minutes ago via the cams.
Daniels brings a hand up suddenly, eyes still shut. "No need, I'll be the one questioning her." His blue eyes flutter open as he sniffles into his tissue before he smiles knowingly at her. "Esther, don't even think of offering me that sympathetic expression. You know I'm not one to reason with, especially not in this state." He stifles a rough cough against his wrist.
The Criminologist sighs against his wits. "I know, darling. You're just so tired, and," She pauses as her partner gives yet another rather crackly cough. "And by God, if those boys have set off your allergies with their-"
"Scarcely. I've taken some pills for it. The symptoms are bound to slip away soon, I'd hope." It doesn't prove his point when he pitches to sneeze twice into the crook of his elbow.
"Anything I could do to help?" Esther offers, shrugging her coat off and placing it on the hanger, where it shares a spot with two other jackets of matching likeness.
Daniels raises a brow with amusement, searching her over. "Unless you're willing to hug me, or hold me until I fall asleep, I'm afraid I'm rather alright for the time being." He releases a heavy breath, though not without a twinge of an asthmatic wheeze. Esther's brow knits into a furrow.
"Sorry, love, not while I've come into contact with Henry's- not one, but two- cats. The boys didn't tell me how many strays that guy owned." She pauses, using the hand sanitizer at her desk, ushering him on with a sideways nod.
"Use your inhaler, darling; you've gone all wheezy." She points out calmly, wincing at his whistling cough. "Have I?" Daniels asks breathlessly, fumbling through his desk, pulling up his puffer inhaler, which he shakes vigorously, sniffling softly.
"Actually, I'm not entirely sure i-" "Save it, use the inhaler first, then we'll talk, Grey." Esther interrupts before he can even bother finishing. He inhales sharply, and holds his breath to follow after pressing down the buton. All while he waits for the relief, he makes eye contact with her, wiping his watering eyes breifly. Lord, was she a sight for sore eyes. And by God, when she uses my first name-
Daniels exhales slowly, closing his eyes. "Now, what were you saying, dear?" Esther coaxes, taking a strip of tape from her desk, and rolling it over her clothes, ridding it of any fur that may have bypassed her sight.
"Nothing, Esa-" He pauses inhaling deeply, listening for any wheeze; he was alright. "You'll let me interrogate Ellis, then, won't you, love?" Daniels inquired, stifling a sneeze against his wrist, sitting upright, tucking the rescue inhaler away in his desk. She nods wearily, leaning on her desk, keeping safe distance from her partner.
"I will. And, as soon as you're done, I'll be here in the bullpen waiting for you. And darling?" Esther waits until his eyes are on hers, switching the laptop off with a free hand.
"Don't stress to get everything out of her in one day. Sometimes it's best to make them wait a while in the cell; makes 'em dance more." Esther bemuses with a sly cackle. She is not entirely oblivious to Daniels' flushing cheeks.
"I should keep that in mind. Thank you, my love."
______
Daniels waited for a good few minutes in the hallways, watching as Ellis stood beside a bailiff, who helped her to sign up and answered a few questions briefly about the case. He'd be lying if he said that his nose didn't itch and his throat didn't feel tight and ticklish. Surely the inhaler did help with some relief, even if momentarily.
After they'd finished, Daniels made his way over the bailiffs, sharing a few words, before taking Ellis into his care; stone-faced and calm as ever. He could feel her shaking beneath his grip, vibrating with each choked-back sob as he guided her down the hall, and towards the enclosed room.
He presses his tongue against the roof of his mouth to suppress a sneeze. "Please refrain from that." He orders cooly, opening the door to the secured interviewing room. He blinks briefly at the fluorescent lighting, before noting the large mirrored panel, where he was aware that an officer would be watching keenly from the entire while.
Ellis sniffles loudly against her palm, standing weakly in the door frame. Daniels locks the door behind her, and makes towards the table, waving a hand over it. Come now, Danny boy, don't choke now.
"Have a seat." He offers no trace of emotion in his voice; he'd learned to mask it, because it helped to set people even further on edge when they were guilty. Ellis hardly makes it towards the chair, before she's back to sobbing.
"Please, plu-please I'm beh-begging you. I didn't- I promise I didn't do anyth-ihng." she's heaving between sobs, eyes pleading. If Daniels had been a sentimental man, he'd believe her as soon as she said such a pitiful thing. It was an awful shame that he knew the signs of someone who was shamed with guilt.
"If that's true, then you'll have no problem explaining to me, in full detail, what exactly happened in the first place." The Officer deadpans, hands connecting gently with the metallic table. He cringes at his own voice; it has its own keen shake to it, and by God he sounded positively ill.
"I don- don't understah-stand." She was acting petulant at best, Daniels had decided, and he simply refused to have it. He traces circles on the table with calm, steady fingers.
"Come now, dear. I want to believe you, honest, I do. But you're going to have to be fully honest with me first." He soothes, staring back into brown, tear filled eyes. To be clear, he much preferred sobbing witnesses to defensive ones. Many a times had he been frightened and shaken himself, locked in a questioning cell with large, furiously defending people. Ellis simply gasps out, shaking her head forcefully.
"Begin wherever you see fit; come now, don't leave me waiting." He offers, taking a seat across from her, to help steady her nerves. Sit at eyes level, speak softly, remain eyes contact. Offer assistance, ease off the pressure. Smile.
Except, she won't make eye contact with him. Because she knows what she's done.
Yet again, the officer is met with a head that shakes almost as much as she does. Daniels' patience dwindled thin on that very quell she tried to enforce, before he holds on (tightly, admittedly) to an impatient sigh.
"How about I start somewhere for you, then, hm?" He waves briskly with a smile. Another firm tap on the table sends her into a deep, throaty sob.
"Tell me, when did you first notice that your neighbor went missing?" He inquires, lowering his head until her eyes are glued to his. She blinks several times, mopping her eyes with her wrist. She heaves a heavy sigh, eyes fixed now on the ceiling lights above.
"He- Henry stopped coming outside on- uhm- the 26th or, no- 27th? He-he- before that, he always came out for mail and to feed the strays," She pauses after gasping out, her expression being traded for one of terror upon seeing Daniels' doubtful face.
"Please, I promise it was, I'm not l- I'm not lying! He stopped coming outside, I swear- I didn't know any better, please-" She's becoming desperate and unwinding herself in an attempt to end this. Daniels forces back a smirk.
"Answer this, then- If you had grown so used to your routine, why didn't you think anything when it suddenly stopped?" He asked, crossing his feet at the ankles under the table.
"Be- because I thought he was- I thought he was ta-taking a break! He'd been s- so tired lately, so when he stopped, I guessed he needed to rest." There it was- there was the break in her alibi that he needed in order to get through.
"Then, let me ask you: were you aware of any of his underlying health conditions to make you feel that way?" The way she just stares up at the officer in dreadful horror could've been comical; Daniels bites back the smile that had been wading its way up the entire while.
"He- Henry always had heart problems; as long as I'd known hi- him! He'd al- See, he'd always take me to his appointments. He had his medicine, and the doctors told me he would be okay." Ellis' voice waivers thin, hand finding its way to her mouth, forcing back choked sobs.
"So you signed his prescriptions at the offices; that's how you knew of his dwindling health, isn't it?"
The witness nods so sharply, Daniels' own head buzzed with migraine. "Y-yes that's it; you believe me now, don't you? I- I don't know what went wrong- honestly I don't!" The pleading made a lovely reappearance that would have had Daniels frown, if it hadn't meant that he was getting oh-so closer to the truth.
"So, you figured he had just been taking a break." He waves a hand, dismissing her interruption (He could see it in her eyes) "So you decided to just go on vacation for a bit?"
There it was again; Her eyes flitted about up and down the wall behind the officer, whilst her hands found comfort while rubbing her thumbs up and down each other. "Y-Yes, that's it. I called my mother on the 7th and asked if I could come over for a visit. I- I just hadn't really been myself lately, is all..." Her pitch had raised several octaves and she spoke quickly. Liar.
"Really? That so? Just needed a little break, is all." Daniels hums a low note, closing his eyes briefly, awaiting to see how far she would take it; because he was willing to go all in. Admittedly, that burn in his throat returned with vengeance at his humming, and he cleared his throat a few times to ease it.
"That's right. I stayed with them up until yesterday. When- Well, when I returned, I asked around; asked my neighbors if they'd seen Mr. Henry. No one had, s- so I called for help. I-I already told the other detective about this yes-yesterday..." Daniels stifled a cough, pressing his thin lips together, before clearing his throat once more.
"Mm, that's awful peculiar. You know, I spoke with your father earlier today." He blinks open his eyes to see hers have widened like saucers, staring at the metallic table. The tears had stopped flowing now, as she stared blankly, dead eyes at the surface. Daniels inhales slowly, wincing at the tightness of his own throat. By God, hurry this up please.
"My God- No, you-"
"Sure did," Daniels regrets the obvious scratchiness of his voice, and decides that she's clearly too out of sorts to notice. "Called and asked about your little holiday. Funnily enough," He leans on his elbows, moving his head with hers to maintain contact. "They both said they never heard from you once." Although the slowing of his words had been much opposed to being desirable, his own aching lungs had proven to make matters much more substantial. Daniels had always been one for the dramatics.
"Oh my-" Head shakes all around, exasperated expression, fitful eyes blinking rejected tears. Aaand I'm through. Daniels holds his breath to mock his own shortening breath.
"So I'm only going to ask you one more time:" He draws a shallow breath, standing up briskly, forcing the chair down quickly to assert brief shock. He takes the moment that she's stunned and clears his throat, biding what he feared was quick becoming an asthmatic exacerbation.
"Did you or did you not know that your neighbor had died before your fake vacation?" Ellis, much to his dismay, breaks into sobs, pitching forth in an attempt to mask her terror.
"Ellis, I know that you know better than to lie about this. You knew something had happened to him, so you went to go check up. You, and I don't know how and frankly don't care to, saw he had died and were frantic to hide it. Ellis, you quickly formed a plan to hide his being missing; you fed his stray cats, and even went as far as to pretend to leave town so that you could have a single bit of an alibi for your wild attempt at reserving dignity. Now I ask you for the final time: have you been hiding the fact that your neighbor had died?" Daniels is breathless as soon as his heavy, quick-paced rant had ended. He is mentally thankful that his lungs held out, especially since as soon as he finished (whilst Ellis sobbed something awful) he lapsed into a coughing fit against his sleeve, wheezing terribly for breath whenever possible.
Blinking damn quick, pursing his lips tightly to just stop coughing, for Godsakes, he watches her crying out desperately. Ellis' hands were pressed firm as if praying, face contorted with an expression that was pleading enough.
"I'm so so-ohrryy, God I'm so sorryy- please, I- plu-please, I'm begging you, I never- I never meant to cause such a mess." She'd practically fallen against the table fitfully, shaking so bad the table vibrated against concrete floors.
"I-I-I saw he was dead, a-and I didn't know what to do- you-you, please you have to understand, I was te-terribly afraid! I couldn't do anything, s-so I hid it. Honest, I re- I really am so sorry!" She spat words between choking pants of desperation, eyeliner running down her face, tears soaking the entire fabric of her shirt. Briefly, as Daniels had done his best to regain what dignity he had reserved, he felt almost sorry for that poor sight.
"Thats simply all I- wanted to hear-" Daniels lungs felt as if they were full of lead, and his throat made him mentally imagine razor blades severing his insides. He struggles to pant out the words, sending a horribly pained expression to whichever officer had the liberty of watching him work in stitches.
He sends a wave towards it, a near-pleading expression making its way to his exhausted face. "Please send someone in to take her into custody- thank you." Daniels adds the last bit quickly as he shakily unlocks the door, and exits just as swiftly.
He hardly notices that Esther is standing outside the bullpen, until he nearly walks into her, pitched forward, hand on his chest.
"Darling mine, back so soon?" She starts to ask, placing a hand out to touch his cheek. However, Daniels pushes by slowly, numbly hitting the door. "Es, dear-" she's in the pen as soon as he speaks, picking up quickly on his lethargy, franticness, and audible wheeze.
"Inhaler, right. I got you, Grey." She hums back, grabbing for his inhaler upon fishing it out of his desk. When she's turned around, the Officer had slumped into her desk chair, eyes squeezed shut as he heaves whistling breathes, shaky hands on his chest.
Esther is quickly at his side, facial expression rid of any sign of fear, knowing that serenity is what calms Daniels most. "Grey, dear, breathe." She orders, shaking his medication as he inhales quickly. She forces the inhaler into his mouth and presses down. There's a hiss of air, and she waits while he holds his breath, sweeping Daniels' loose strands of hair from his face.
After a few seconds, he breathes out raggedly, eyes blinking open, as he mops his nose with his sleeve. "Again, dear- still a bit wheezy, hm?" Esther asks in her ever so soft, yet parental voice. He only nods and repeats the process without any words. She smiles as his breathing regulates, and his chest has fallen back into a calm pattern, free of asthmatic charm.
"Esa, darling- you really do kn-" Before he can bother finishing, she's shushing Daniels as if he were a crying infant, running her thumb under his eyes. "Catch your breath first, lover mine." She soothes, earning just about the cutest, softest smile she'd ever seen him offer.
Taking slow, calming breaths, Daniels leans forwards in his partner's chair, before pressing his forehead into her arm. "You really do know how to help me through just about anything, don't you?" He asks breathlessly, implying that he was still under influence of his previous asthmatic intervention.
"Shh, yes darling- Such are the perks of dating the world's sickest- yet cutest- bailiff." Esther coos in response, earning a raspy laugh from her partner, who never dared budge from her grasp.
"What have I ever done to deserve you, love mine?" His hushed voice brings a smile to Esther's lips, as she peppers a kiss on the top of his dark hair, before saying,
"Simply you existing is enough to deserve the world." She feels Daniels squirm below her, no doubt trying to hide his own blushing.
"Lord, I pray Kestrel and Theo don't pass through here- God forbid they see this." He whispers with an air of a giggle. She scoffs, pulling his face up to make eye contact, before kissing the bridge of his nose.
"They've gone home, believe it or not. Right after you went in for questioning. They won't see nothin'. Theo told me to tell you he hopes they didn't cause you too much problems." She adds, running a hand through Daniels' hair.
"I'll send my regards tomorrow morning. For now, I've got myself paperwork to fill regarding Ellis." He mutters, clearly unamused. Esther simply smiles.
"Come now, darling- don't I deserve some praise for saving you? I can think of a little way you can repay me." She hums, looking down at his lips, which part to scoff lovingly, brows raised.
"Can be arranged, don't mind me much if I'm still a bit out of breath." Daniels replies, looming forward until he's inches from her face. Her only response is a kiss planted delicately upon his lips.