Sebastian and Declan

Although Patty did wince some at Declan's retort, she didn't back down. When she replied, it was with cool poise. "No, Mr. Reynolds. I am protecting my clients. You are not law enforcement, you are not internal affairs, but you are working with them. If one of them said something that gave you reason to believe they might be even indirectly involved, would you hide it from Agent Ash so that he did not pursue a punishment? Would you lie to him if he asked you if they had said anything? If they said something that got Ash to focus on one of them as a suspect, do you honestly think you would be in a position to discourage him from pursuing what he perceived as a lead?"

"I understand that you find my advice obstructive, but what I don't think you do understand is just how easy it is for law enforcement to draw the wrong conclusions and fixate on an innocent in their pursuit of justice. The perpetrator goes free if an innocent is convicted in their stead too, and frankly, better that a thousand criminals go free than even a single innocent be convicted of a crime they didn't commit. So yes, Mr. Reynolds, if my advice has a ninety-nine percent chance of impeding your efforts to find the killer against a one percent chance of keeping one of my clients from being punished for something they didn't do, I will call that a bargain and take it every time." Her voice grew more passionate as she spoke, and the intuitive might get a sense that Declan was not the only person in the room her words were meant for.

Returning to a more businesslike tone, she said, "Now then. The fact is that anything they say in here can indeed be used against them, whether you personally intend to or not. However, you seem to understand that my clients have not done this, or at least not willingly, so perhaps we can work together to the benefit of all. If you can secure an immunity agreement for my clients, then I would of course have no objection to them answering whatever questions you wish, and I'm sure that they would be eager to help you find the individual who violated their security and used their technology in such a horrific attack."

Several of the members of the squad gave you hopeful looks at that, a couple of them even giving little unconscious nods of encouraging agreement. And indeed, there was eagerness gleaming in more than one set of eyes.

Sean

Ash didn't dismiss your argument out of hand like he had before, so that was something. You did catch a scent of resignation and bemusement at your final point. He considered your words for several moments. "I concur that your power offers us the fastest potential resolution to the case. And while it would not be sufficient evidence to convict before a civilian court, it would be fine for internal affairs work and...might be enough for a Court Martial hearing. That being said, while speed is important, it isn't everything. Security will of course be tighter following this breach, and the actual killer is dead, so the likelihood of a similar crime happening in short time is low. My concern is that we don't know which of the squad are involved or how - bear in mind that if we do give credence to the theory that they might have been psychically compelled, we then also have to consider the possibility that more than one of them was compromised. If you are wrong and we allow the guilty party access to the evidence, clues that we might find eventually could instead be lost permanently. I'm also not entirely convinced that if any given member of this squad were to find evidence pointing to one of their teammates, they might take it on themselves to protect them."

"Perhaps your power is sufficient to overcome the risk to a mundane investigation. Perhaps not. How do you propose we guard against that risk? I am willing to consider your strategy, but only if we have precautions in place to ensure we don't get burned if it doesn't work out."

"Also, did the relief come when we left, or when Mr. Reynolds expressed that he didn't think they did it?
Or can you tell? Although Reynolds was the one who originally antagonized them, so if anything why would he feel relieved that the cooler heads had left the room...?" The wheels in Ash's head were turning. You could smell the suspicion wafting off of him, as well as the scent of almost predatory intent. You could tell that your words had just shot Jennings up to the top of Ash's suspect list, anyway.