Rudy up on charges?

[RobReece]

I don't know if this has been discussed before or not.

Will the lack of Murphy's body be used to keep Rudy from being held accountable for her death?

Bradley wasn't a witness to the shooting,  Butters was, but I don't think he'd carry the same weight as a detective, especially given how he's viewed by his boss.

Secondary question,  does Waldo still work for the Coroner's Office, sorry, the Forensic Institute?

[Mira]

I don't know if this has been discussed before or not.

Will the lack of Murphy's body be used to keep Rudy from being held accountable for her death?

Bradley wasn't a witness to the shooting,  Butters was, but I don't think he'd carry the same wait as a detective, especially given how he's viewed by his boss.

Secondary question,  does Waldo still work for the Coroner's Office, sorry, the Forensic Institute?

 Well, Rudy has to deal with his sanity first I'd think.  Body or not, there were witnesses to his shooting of Murphy.  However I wouldn't be shocked if he found a way to pin it on Harry.

Don't know if Waldo still works for the Coroner's Office, it hasn't been mentioned for a long time now.

[vincentric]

There were no witnesses who saw the actual shooting except Harry and Rudolph. Butters and Sanya were approaching but didn't see the event. There may have been Winter fae that saw it, but that won't help Harry in a human court.

[Mira]

There were no witnesses who saw the actual shooting except Harry and Rudolph. Butters and Sanya were approaching but didn't see the event. There may have been Winter fae that saw it, but that won't help Harry in a human court.

I have to go back and reread, but my impression was there were a lot of people around, panicked people but people.  At the same time if what you say is true, no witness, no body, nothing can be proved against Rudolph.  However Rudolph can charge Harry with battery and I guess even attempted murder, along with whatever he was going to charge both him and Murphy with at the beginning of Peace Talks.  You can bet though that Molly and Mab will see to it that their Knight is well represented in court.  I have a hunch that we will be seeing the lawyer in The Law again.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Yeah Nameless would offer pro bono work to Rudy, because I think Rudy was working for Cowl/Nameless all along. Nameless needed a source inside CPD separate from Marcone’s network, and Rudy was all that was left (Marcone could afford more competent cops).

I think that this is where Harry becomes suspicious of Nameless as having a long term vendetta about Harry, he finds out from Marcone that he is not funding Nameless on this, which means that Nameless was behind Rudy at least as far back as Changes, and that Nameless put Rudy on him for Peace Talks to distract Harry (Marcone had accepted wereguild and wouldn’t want to attract attention). This also shows Nameless involvement in Skin Game he likely let Tessa know that Deidre would have to sacrifice half, as Marcone’s lawyer he would know something was happening and realised the Vault was a way to Hades realm (Cowl of course released the Nimean Lion from that realm and maybe Blood in his Stool.

The Law and Fugitive give major clues that Cowl is Nameless. They also show that Harry is making him reckless and he could be coming to a falling out with Marcone, if Harry and Marcone would compare notes.

I suspect Nameless/Cowl gets the surprise of his life when he attacks Marcone only to find he is dealing with Namshiel.

[Melriken]

There were no witnesses who saw the actual shooting except Harry and Rudolph. Butters and Sanya were approaching but didn't see the event. There may have been Winter fae that saw it, but that won't help Harry in a human court.

Why? most Winter Fae can pass for human and would seem to be willing to testify for the Winter Knight... why couldn't they help Harry in a human court?

[vincentric]

Why? most Winter Fae can pass for human and would seem to be willing to testify for the Winter Knight... why couldn't they help Harry in a human court?

Sidhe can pass for human, most Winter Fae and certainly most of the Wyldfae can't.

Harry didn't have any Sidhe warriors with him, he had malks, trolls, a Rawhead and other assorted monsters. And he sent them to keep the evacuation path for the daycare open, so they weren't on hand for the battle with the giant and the aftermath which was when Rudolph shot Murphy. Butters and Sanya were on the way, but they also hung back until the the kids and Bradley were clear. Toot and Lacuna may have still been nearby, but I don't think you'd want either of them on the witness stand.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Lacuna yes, Toot no. Definitely no.

[Snark Knight]

At the same time if what you say is true, no witness, no body, nothing can be proved against Rudolph.  However Rudolph can charge Harry with battery and I guess even attempted murder, along with whatever he was going to charge both him and Murphy with at the beginning of Peace Talks. 

Theoretically, he could go after Harry for the near-fatal beating. But will he really want to put Harry on the stand, where he might start talking about the question of motive and trying a temporary insanity defense?  Rudy's better off just taking the beating and leaving Murphy officially considered just one of the thousands missing or dead in the attack on the city, where she doesn't attract attention. Even though nothing could be officially pinned on him without forensic evidence that it was a bullet from his service weapon, if other police believe it, it could do him reputational damage.

But he's now terrified of Harry, and almost guaranteed to step up looking for other ways to try to neutralize him.  Probably leaning in to building the other case against him over the bank heist, and looking for opportunities to hire hit men to try to eliminate him.  Being police, he has access to the file on Harry's shooting, so probably realizes that a sniper got really close to succeeding.  Which means Harry had probably better get to work on how to make fully-body bulletproofing enchantments on his clothing, sooner rather than later.

Harry probably isn't cold-blooded enough to go there, but now that he's engaged to Lara, it would be real easy to name-drop Rudy as someone with a lot to feel guilt and emotional turmoil over in front of a Skavis at one of her social functions.

[Elequosoraptor]

Yeah, I find it unlikely there is any criminal action against Rudolph. It can be hard enough to get a cop on that kind of charge, much less without a body or reliable witnesses, much less in the absolute chaos of death surrounding the event, much less with the strain the legal system will already face in the aftermath. I mean, so many people went missing during that night where would you even start?

As for this, I'm not sure how you get Cowl=Nameless.

The Law and Fugitive give major clues that Cowl is Nameless. They also show that Harry is making him reckless and he could be coming to a falling out with Marcone, if Harry and Marcone would compare notes.

I suspect Nameless/Cowl gets the surprise of his life when he attacks Marcone only to find he is dealing with Namshiel.

Nameless is a demigod, emphasis on the god side, and Mouse just tackled him and broke his arm. That, along with Dresden's own certainty based on the feel of his magic, just screams mortal wizard. I mean, imagine trying to tackle and break the Erlking's arm. Unless you want to say cowl somehow wanted, and therefore allowed Mouse to snap his bones, I just don't see it happening like that.

[Mira]

Yeah, I find it unlikely there is any criminal action against Rudolph. It can be hard enough to get a cop on that kind of charge, much less without a body or reliable witnesses, much less in the absolute chaos of death surrounding the event, much less with the strain the legal system will already face in the aftermath. I mean, so many people went missing during that night where would you even start?

Agreed, but you can bet that Rudolph won't have ended his obsession with putting Harry behind bars.  I also think that Harry will have a hard time proving his innocence or proving that Rudolph suffers from serious paranoia.. I do think it will come down to a trial with all kinds of stuff at stake including the threat of Harry being declared an unfit father and little Maggie taken away.  However I think between Lara and Mab, and the lawyer from "The Law," Harry will be gotten off and there will be a "Captain Krig" moment like in "The Cain Mutiny," with Rudolph mumbling about stolen strawberries or some such on the stand. 

[g33k]

Yeah, I find it unlikely there is any criminal action against Rudolph. It can be hard enough to get a cop on that kind of charge, much less without a body or reliable witnesses, much less in the absolute chaos of death surrounding the event, much less with the strain the legal system will already face in the aftermath. I mean, so many people went missing during that night where would you even start?

Yeah, 100% agree.

Even if there were any (mundane) witnesses (I don't think there were any Named Characters, but random civilians & innocent bystanders (hiding in a building overlooking the street, or behind a car, or whatever) would be a reasonable thing (if Jim wanted to write it that way) ... even if, I say, there were such witnesses ... most defense attorneys could almost certainly raise "reasonable doubt" about their credibility:  the terror of suddenly being in a battle-zone, the "fog of war" effect, PTSD-based false memories, etc etc etc.

"They are more-to-be-pitied-than-blamed, ladies & gentlemen of the Jury... but they simply aren't credible ... not beyond a reasonable doubt!"

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Rudolph will be cashiered from CPD, so will set himself up as a PI investigating “so-called” supernatural events and debunking them.

The Douchebag Files.

[g33k]

Rudolph will be cashiered from CPD, so will set himself up as a PI investigating “so-called” supernatural events and debunking them.

The Douchebag Files.

And with his background in SI, he knows exactly the sorts of fabrications that the Powers That Be like to see in those reports.  He'll become their favorite consultant...

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Except he will believe them.

Whilst a large faction of the City and its authorities accept the Supernatural, there will be those who don’t so Rudy will still have his supporters and patrons.