Anna lifted her chin and glanced down at his handwriting. She often teased him that his writing was like a new language, but now certainly wasn't the time for a witty quip.
It took her a moment to decipher a few of his words, but she was able to determine what he'd written. An affair… or threatened… She arched her eyebrows a bit, but that was the only reaction she afforded herself. If her client had been coerced into lying, though, she wondered who would be the person behind it. And what they might stand to gain.
"Plausible," she murmured in return before looking back at her client just in time to hear him mutter something. "What?" she asked, inclining her head subtly in a non-threatening motion.
Kevin scoffed under his breath and repeated himself. "A year."
Lars nodded at her response and gave a thoughtful hum at Kevin’s answer. “That's a long time to be with someone.” he said gently. “I’m sure you had your fair share of problems. Were you two living together?” he asked, just trying to get the man to talk. If they could learn more about his relationship with Kayleigh then he and Anna could better represent Kevin. Perhaps even find out the truth.
"Yeah," Kevin admitted with his gaze still fixed on the same spot on the table.
Anna sighed quietly. She tried to think and come up with a question or something to sound helpful. "I'm aware that you are currently unemployed. What was Kayleigh's occupation?"
Kevin's eyes darkened, and he spat out a response so quick and quiet Anna couldn't catch it.
"What?" she asked frowning slightly.
"A stripper," Kevin repeated, tightening his crossed arms.
Anna inhaled slowly. What if Harry knew? He'd likely question the possibility of an affair, getting too close with a client, or something like that.
Lars professionally hid a wince at the man’s venomous reply to Anna’s question. That is definitely not helping the man’s case… he sighed. I'm not even going to pretend to be surprised if she danced at Lau’s casino.
“And you were against it. Did Kaleigh know your opinion?” he asked, a part of him almost hoping to get more of a rise out of Kevin. Sometimes when a client gets emotional, the truth slips out.
"No," Kevin countered sharply.
Almost immediately, Anna frowned with confusion. "No, she didn't know? Or–"
"No, I wasn't against it," the man growled, finally looking up and over at them. "How many more questions are you going to ask? I killed both of them – Kayleigh and Freddie. Now shove it."
Anna's mouth dropped open, but she shut it soon after.
Lars tried not to glare as Kevin directed his attitude towards Anna. “We will ask you as many questions as necessary.” he interrupted. “Now, you say that you were not against her profession. I find that hard to believe of anyone in a relationship that lasted as long as yours did.” he pointed out, his voice somewhere between sharp and too slick. “You didn't mind that she would take off her clothes for complete strangers? That she would dance suggestively for them? Practically naked?” he asked, looking directly at Kevin. “Did she put her job before your relationship? Did she dress more modestly in front of you? Perhaps she never showed you anything and Freddie Lau saw everything.”
"No, I didn't mind," Kevin snapped, looking past Anna completely now to argue with Larson. "I already said I didn't! And Freddie Lau never saw anything! You don't know what you're talking about.”
Anna reached out and gently placed her hand on the man's arm. "Mr. Grey, please. My consultant and I are trying to figure out how to best represent you. The police only have your confession. Their entire case is non-existent without it." She lowered her voice, speaking gently to help coax the answers out of him. One that would be of use. "I think there's something you're not telling me about all this. Talk to us. We can help you."
Suddenly, Kevin's face became guarded again, just as it had before. "No one can help me," he muttered, shifting his gaze back to Anna before turning and facing the table again. Anna's hand dropped back into her lap. "Not now."
Anna frowned and inclined her head. "What do you mean?" she asked, but then the door opened again, cutting off whatever answer Grey might have given. She sighed sharply. Of course, right when she and Larson might have been making headway…
"Are you quite done yet?" Harry asked, stepping in with narrowed eyes. "It doesn't look like you've made that much more progress."
Lars managed to keep a neutral expression at Kevin’s reaction, but he was glad that briefly making himself the “enemy” gave Anna the chance to be the good one. But his annoyance could not be hidden as Harry barged in.
“Harry, your timing could not be better if you were deliberately trying to sabotage our work.” he groaned, but resisted from asking if he always had this problem to avoid embarrassing his friend. Hopefully, the others would assume that he was just referencing the fact that Harry started the interview early and without Anna being present.
Harry's eyes narrowed immediately at Larson's comment. "I have a job of my own that I'm trying to do here, Mr. Carter," he shot back, but before either of them could say anything else, Anna rose to her feet to intervene.
"Yes, I believe we're done for now," she replied simply and evenly, betraying no emotion in front of her former husband. "This interview can be picked up at a later date, once my consultant and I have had proper time to meet with our client beforehand."
Without waiting for Harry to counter her, she stepped towards the door to leave, looking back at Kevin. "Thank you, Mr. Grey," she said kindly. "We'll be in touch soon. And I'd like to remind you that you do have the privilege against self-incrimination. The right to remain silent in any further interviews or other questioning procedures." She offered a small, reassuring smile to her client before motioning for Larson to follow her out the door.
Lars sighed as he gathered his papers, grateful for Anna’s intervention before he and Harry could make themselves look even more foolish.
“Don't let anyone bully you.” he added as he stood and followed his friend out of the room. He knew he should just ignore Harry but as he passed, he couldn't help bumping his shoulder against the others and a mutter of “Lestrade,” escaped his lips. But he didn't stop walking, leaving the detective in the doorway.
Harry's eyes narrowed at the mutter, and he would've said something sharply in reply if Anna hadn't been there too. Instead, he began instructing the officers outside of Grey's door that the man could be taken back to Whitecross Prison.
When Anna strode past Harry, she seemed to be quite confident. Really, she discreetly was holding her breath as she passed so she wouldn't have to smell his cologne and refused to look at him. Even though they weren't yet outside, she slipped her arms through the sleeves of her coat, and once it was on, she hugged it around her.
Once they were far away enough from Harry, she turned to Larson and offered a small smile. "I'm sorry," she apologized, reaching up to gently tug her honey-colored hair out from the collar of her coat.
“You don't have to apologize for anything.” Lars assured with a gentle smile. “If anyone should apologize, it should be him. The man should know how to do his job properly instead of fudging everything up like that.” he teased, though his complaint was still valid.
He shook his head, pushing away any more thoughts about Harry, and put his jacket back on. “Either way… Where did you want to go for lunch?” he asked, changing the topic. “We can talk more about the case without so many eager listeners.” he chuckled.
Anna shook her head slightly. "He shouldn't have even been in there. The fact that he and I were both in that room could ruin this entire case. And it is my fault, Larson. Harry only did what he did to try and get at me." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and determinedly adding, "It won't happen again."
She led the way outside and looked over at him with a small smile beginning to show on her face again. "Trust me, there are already many less eager listeners now that we're out of that building," she remarked with a grin. "Though, are you sure you'd like me to pick? I won't be taking criticism if you agree and then don't like my selection."
“I know. I know.” Lars nodded, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “But I still don’t think it's your fault and he didn't need to behave that way. Harry could have at least pretended to be professional.” he sighed. “Don't worry.”
He laughed a little when she started to relax as they left the station. “Yes, I’m sure. I think I already have a pretty good guess what you're going to choose anyway.” he teased, reminding her how long they had been friends. “But I actually wanted to ask you if… do you think we should mention this to Nathan? I think there's a chance that telling him might help convince him to let me stay on the case with you.” he explained. “It might have been a simple communication error or someone read “Clayton” on the paperwork and mistakenly assigned either you or Harry to this case.”
Anna sighed and admittedly relaxed a bit at the touch on her shoulder. She glanced back at him and smiled. "Thank you, Lars," she remarked. "You're right. I was just trying not to overreact. With Harry… that can be difficult."
The woman rolled her eyes. "There's no way you could guess what I'd choose! Am I really that predictable?" she asked incredulously.
Anna let his words sink in for a moment. She sighed quietly and glanced over. "Why not?" she stated finally. "Excuse me, but he was being a bloody prick this morning. I don't see any good reason why we can't work together on this case. Or, if they keep Harry on and do away with me, we can work together on whatever they give us next."
Lars nodded with a sigh. “Believe me, Anna, I know. Harry makes everything difficult.” he agreed.
“I wouldn't say predictable.” he chuckled. “It's more like I just know you and your favorite places that well.”
Lars gave a slight smirk and nodded. “He really was. And we can use that as a reason when we talk to Nathan about this.” he said, knowing his point was redundant to her comment. “But I like the idea of an ultimatum.”
Anna offered a fleeting smile back. "Trust me, Lars," she replied softly. "I'm aware of that."
Though she rolled her eyes at his chuckle. "Oh, alright. Why don't you pick where we go, then? Surprise me with something new."
She smirked back and arched her eyebrows. "I do as well," she agreed. "Let Nathan try to combat our combined wit and win. I'd like to see what he could possibly say to keep you off of this case with me."
Lars nodded, patting her shoulder. “I know you do. You know better than anyone.”
“Maybe another time.” he hummed before giving her a smirk. “After the day we've just had, I was looking forward to dining at our favorite place.”
He laughed at the mental image of him and Anna staring down Nathan and nodded. “Yes, let him try to go against us.” he said dramatically. “For we are unstoppable and he will fail.”
Anna smiled briefly in agreement, but it didn't reach her eyes. Lars was right. She did know better than anyone how difficult Harry could be.
"Alright," she relented effortlessly. "7 Saints it is. And I'll try and call for a cab this time."
At her friend's dramatics, Anna shook her head and laughed. "Oh my God, Larson," she said through giggles.
“Go ahead.” he smiled softly at her offer to get the cab. “But you know I don't mind.” he chuckled, lightly teasing.
His smile grew as she laughed at his antics, counting it as a win for cheering her up. “Yes, Anna?” he grinned with an arched brow as he tried to keep the good mood.
Anna smirked slightly and walked up to the curb. She waved at the next cab she saw, but it kept driving by her. The next one did the same thing. Anna let out a frustrated huff. "See," she said shortly, looking back over her shoulder at him. "They don't stop for me."
But she froze for a moment as she studied him. He was grinning widely and had his eyebrows arched expectantly. Anna blinked slowly and shook her head with a small smile. "Nothing, Lars. You're ridiculous."
“You're not whistling.” he pointed out, still smirking. “In my experience, that actually helps. Just make it loud and clear. If the next one doesn't stop for that…” he shrugged.
Lars smiled as Anna used his nickname and chuckled. “Only when necessary.” he quipped, knowing that she realized what he was doing.
Anna frowned at his tip. "But I can't whistle," she admitted, blushing a bit over how stupid she sounded. She turned away from Larson again to wave at another cab, and again it drove by without stopping. The whole bloody thing was beginning to make Anna frustrated.
Lars raised a brow, not surprised since there were quite a few people who couldn't whistle but more surprised that he couldn't remember if she had told him before or not. “If… If you'd like, I can try to teach you.” he offered as he noticed her blush before quickly whistling and waving down the next cab. “You know I had to practice a lot when I was a kid before I was able to whistle properly.”
Anna pursed her lips, a habit of hers when she was irritated, as the cab Lars waved down pulled over for them. "I feel like a plain idiot not knowing how to whistle," she muttered, shaking her head. "I can't even get a cab properly. What kind of Englishwoman am I?"
