The Infiniti Council - Chapter 5: A Stranger Weeps

[Nathan Saniti]

The Infiniti Council - Chapter 05: A Stranger Weeps

December 18, 2015

Nathan leaned uncomfortably in the metal chair in the cold, drab interview room of the Greenville, South Carolina's fourth precinct, clicking his tongue impatiently as he waited for the detectives to show themselves from behind the two-way mirror. Unimpressed by their incessant need to waste his time, and altogether not very happy that they opted to abscond with his hat, but mostly growing monumentally bored, he fidgeted the minutes away.

Their mirror may have kept normal men from seeing their conversations, but then the Mystical Madman was no normal man. He could also read lips. It was all he could do to contain his ire at their inflammatory accusations they cast at him even before speaking to him face-to-face. They must have caught onto the fact that he had these abilities, since his gaze never once left the mirror. Since the charade was over, the first detective decided to make himself known.

The door clicked open and a tall, muscular man of ebony complexion sat a styrofoam cup of steaming earl grey tea in front of Nathan. "Here you go, Mr. Saniti. Earl Grey with two lumps and a splash of lemon, just as you requested."

Nathan eyes the offering callously, the string from the tea bag drooping flaccid and unwelcoming. He sneered, rolling his eyes. "And the... other ingredient you put in there?"

The detective feigned surprise. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Sodium thiopental. Truth serum, as it's jokingly called, Detective Dre. Ugh. Dreadful name." Nathan stirred his beverage with the plastic stick floating in it. "No matter. It won't have an effect on me. Besides, I have nothing to hide." He sniffed at the cup before placing it down in disappointment. "Portions are all wrong. It'll throw the taste off completely."

Detective Dre smirked, standing upright and nodding his head. "Welp, you caught us. You can't begrudge us a bit of leverage, can you?"

"Without a lawyer present, I most certainly can. However, I already stated I had nothing to hide, so if your partner would kindly make herself known so we can get on with this nonsense..."

On cue, a rather dowdy looking Latino woman with her hair pulled back so tight, it may very well have screamed, "Free Guantanamo," had it lips to protest its own torture. Her severe facial structure kept her precariously on the edge of "librarian" and "girls gone wild - but I also have a gun." Her lips were pursed so closely together that they may have been trying to hide inside one another as she set a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches in front of Nathan with a rattling thud.

"Thank you, my dear," Nathan went to tip his hat, faltering at its absence, but recovering with a grin. "I don't suppose I could trouble you for some pepper?"

She spun on her partner, her rage flossing through gritted teeth. "He can't be serious."

Wordlessly, Detective Dre nodded at her. "It's okay, Maria. We can wait."

She stomped towards the door, but it cracked open just as she arrived, a trembling hand poking through with a shaker of the condiment. "Thanks, Lopez. Now GET OUT!" She unceremoniously slammed the door, barely allowing the assisting digits free clearance. She banged the spice down on the table with a huff. "Anything else, your highness?"

"Yes," Nathan began, upending the dispensing end over his tea with a couple of hearty jiggles before replacing it politely on the table. "You and your partner can drop the 'good cop, bad cop' routine as well. If you have questions, ask them and I shall answer them to the best of my abilities."

Her face calmed as she looked at Detective Dre. Again, he just nodded, so her complexion softened. "Fine."

Nathan dipped one of the half-cut sandwiches into his beverage and took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully, a criticizing look on his face. "Not exactly gourmet, but not precisely gas station noshery, either. It'll suffice." He repeated the process until he had finished the plate. Now it was the detectives' turn to wait. "You know, if you'd have given me the sustenance whilst you confabbed in the other room, less time would have been wasted on both ends."

"If I may cut to the chase, Mr. Saniti..." started Detective Dre.

"It would be appreciated."

"We found a few mysterious substances when performing the autopsy on Jesse McCoy, the man you knew as 'Judge.'"

"Yes," Nathan stated, his expression souring at the thought. "Truly an unfortunate turn of events, indeed. It's very sad when a life ends so unexpectedly."

"Is it, Mr. Saniti?" chimed in Detective Maria Sanchez, her disbelief of Nathan's words nearly palpable. "We're not so sure that his death was entirely natural. In fact, a lot of unnatural things seem to happen around you."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her tone. "Why don't you enlighten me, my dear? Tell me what it was you've found. Perhaps I may be able to help."

"Well, beyond pain killers, which we're not ruling out, for the record," Detective Dre open his dossier before continuing, "there was an unknown substance coursing through his veins. According to our guys at the lab, it was bio-organic, but beyond that they couldn't identify it."

"That is because the ingredients aren't of this plane of existence." Nathan jerked a thumb at the mirror. "Your scientists are confirming to your captain that the substance matches what I dip my hatpins in to the letter."

"So you're admitting that you are responsible for his death?" Detective Sanchez growled.

"Not at all. Even your scientists cannot prove that my hatpin dip is lethal in any dose. Hallucinogenic? Yes. Debilitating? Perhaps. Poisonous? Not that even I am aware of."

"Would you be willing to provide us with a list of ingredients, portions, and locations of where we could get them?"

"Detective Dre," Nathan paused, shuddering. "I apologize. That name is truly horrible. I expect you to break down into beatboxing or something similar. It's almost as if someone picked it looking at their collection of albums. As I was about to say, I can provide you everything except the locations."

"And why is that, Mr. Saniti?"

"I did tell you they were not of this plane of existence, did I not? Even if you were able to travel there, I couldn't. I have since been... locked out."

Detective Dre shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe in magic, or in other 'planes of existence,' Mr. Saniti."

"Your doubt has no bearing on fact, my good man." Nathan stretched his arms above his head. "You're entitled to your own opinions, just not your own facts, and the fact is that those things do not exist in this universe. In fact, you would likely go utterly mad if I were to show you where they did come from."

"Oh, this guys so full of shit!" screamed Detective Sanchez. She thrust her fists down on the table hard. "Look, you pompous bastard..." Detective Dre placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. She sloughed his touch without breaking eye contact with Nathan. "No! He deserves this! My eight-year-old son used to idolize you! He even wanted to learn magic so he could be just like you. Now, he wakes me up in the middle of the night screaming, swearing that you are the Boogeyman himself."

"Very astute young man, your son, Alejandro, was it?" Her rage switched to dumbstruck horror in an instant. Nathan quietly drank in his sudden edge. "Tell him not to fear; not all dark magicks are meant for dark outcomes. Things will reveal themselves in their proper time. Now, unless you wish to press charges against me, I have to prepare for my next battle against another man who deserves no mercy from me: the newly crowned World Champion Phineas Grimm."

"People who cross you drop like flies," stated Detective Sanchez, stepping into Nathan's path. "First Alexa Black's manager Orin and her bodyguard LaShawnda, and now Jesse McCoy, a man who admitted falling in love with YOUR love interest, Kelli Starr, suddenly keels over dead? I find it all too convenient."

"Oh yes," quipped Nathan sarcastically. "This little tour of boredom was very convenient. I do enjoy passing my time in an interrogation room for crimes I've not committed. Tell me, my dear, where is your body of proof for all of this? A television show?"

Her face twitched in frenzy, but she stepped aside to allow him berth. "We'll be watching you, Nathan Saniti. If anything weird happens to Grimm, we'll be there with a warrant and some shiny new bracelets for you to try to escape from. Bank on it."

"My dear, I'll have ringside seats for both of you reserved. Bring Alejandro. I promise you that the nightmare for the Black Hand is far from over, and if Mr. Steele and Miss Black wish to interfere, then they too shall reap my wrath. I have no qualms about denying my enemies mercy in the squared circle. It's a lesson your son should learn, should he decide to fulfill his destiny."

Nathan jostled the locked door once, but it failed to open. He jiggled it again with the same outcome. A third time, and it popped open as if it were never locked at all. "As for your offer of entrapment, keep in mind that I was never at your mercy today." He flourished his hands, his hat zooming out of nowhere to meet his grasp. "I was cooperating to get this unpleasantness over with. Should I even decide not to do so, there is no room in this building built to keep me." He tersely tipped his chapeau. "I bid you adieu."