Character Full Name: Hester Blanche Benoit

Gender: Female

Age: 28

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 134 lbs

Ethnicity/Race: Biracial.

Physical Appearance:

Job/Career: FBI Agent, Former Homicide Detective

Personality: Hester is not someone that likes to dodge questions or make up excuses, which is probably why she's never the one to speak to the press whenever she's sent as a liaison from the Bureau. But her honest approach to the facts at hand, and her belief that lying to the citizens is just going to make them less trusting of the proper authorities, has at least garnered trust between her and citizens she once worked with. Not everyone agrees with her approach to Federal work, often catching the ire of her fellow agents because she's not one to flub a report or embellish a detail, but few can deny that she's got a fair track record of getting her job done even if she still treats the FBI as if it was simply a bigger homicide desk.

Hester doesn't subscribe to the theory that every crime gets solved and sees no reason to say otherwise. Her life with the force has left her rather jaded where before she used to be the idealistic young sort who believed in justice above all.

Outside of the uniform, Hester is something of a romantic; she may not be the idealist when it comes to police work but she still is quite the hopeless idealist romantic, often being spotted reading cheap novels the library or wherever there is wifi and a corner table during her down time. She likes to keep a friendly rapport with the community and their authorities even if only so she can be the one to deliver the bad news to them. Trust is hard to come by and even harder to keep, but Hester believes she has it with most people that can separate her from the uniform.

Rare does a day go by when Hester doesn't reference something from her own youth. It's far less endearing than she believes.

Short Biography: Hester, named after the main character in her mother's favorite book, grew up in Baton Rouge where her father worked for the Baton Rouge Water Company and her mother was a tour guide for Louisiana Art and Science Museum. She was the first child of two in the Benoit family but after her younger brother died in a rather tragic accident when Hester was in high school, it was obvious that the family never quite recovered. Hester was certain that the only reason her parents didn't split up after the accident was because neither of them even wanted to entertain the idea of starting over again.

Hester would like to say that her brother's death was the reason she started turning to law enforcement but that wouldn't be the case, really. She doesn't quite know why, especially given that her number one career choice as a younger girl was opening a restaurant. One day she just woke up and decided to pursue law, even going for a criminal justice degree in college.

She became an officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department but was transferred just a few years after getting her uniform. Her transfer gave way to a promotion, and Officer Hester Benoit became Detective Hester Benoit, which she was proud to accept given that the day to day on her beat was rather uneventful. Some might have considered that a good thing, but Hester didn't feel as if she was getting her full potential with just responding to noise complaints. Her reputation as a detective, as well as her first major bust coming with the arrest and discovery of a grisly string of swamp-based homicides caught the attention of the Feds.

Hester is still quite new to the FBI and very much has the mindset of a smaller town detective. But even before her new position, Hester had an impressive arrest record and her sense of community has made her an ideal candidate for when the Bureau is called in to handle affairs beyond that of a standard police department.

Personal Skills: Conversation: Hester has a way with people, able to hold a good rapport while at the same time getting information from them. It comes in handy as many people don't realize they're being interrogated when Hester does it. She's also decent at reading people, moreso when it's clear when someone has a verbal or physical tic that they may not notice.

Puzzle Solving: Being fond of word puzzles and games from an early age (often scribbling the word jumbles in the paper daily), Hester enjoys the piecing together of clues and riddles as they pertain to cases. The unfortunate reality is that unlike pulpy fiction it's rare the case that has puzzles and riddles. Still, she enjoys finding clues and the investigative process all the same.

Athleticism: Hester, no doubt because of the job, is in solid physical shape and she is particularly proud of her groundspeed. While certainly not an Olympic level sprinter, she can keep pace with runners as most people that run from law enforcement aren't exactly track stars themselves.

Weaknesses: Marksmanship: Hester knows how to use her firearm, but she has only ever done so in training. When she has pulled her weapon in the field, it has always been a partner that has taken a shot. There's a clear difference between shooting at paper targets and a real person.

Navigation: It's a good thing GPS exists because Hester has a terrible sense of direction. If she goes to a place often enough she'll get the general layout but since a portion of her job has her traveling, she winds up needing to rely on GPS to get anywhere.

Likes: + Jelly Beans. There's always jelly beans in a dish on her desk. There are no red ones, though, because she hates the red ones that turn out to be cinnamon. Cinnamon are the worst jelly bean.
+ Trashy romance novels
+ Bourbon after a long day
+ Old cartoons. Like from the 50s and 60s.
+ The morning after a heavy rain
+ The word jumble in the paper

Dislikes: -Coke. She's a Pepsi fan when she does drink a soda
-Card games
-Pizza. It's just...it's not good
-Overly muggy weather
-Buddy cop movies
-Music that isn't funk or jazz

Other:There's a rather bad scar on her right arm that never healed properly and she didn't bother going to the hospital. It's a cut, deep at the time, that has since left a discolored scar. It doesn't hurt, but it's a reason why she often wears long sleeves.

On her right shoulder blade is a tattoo of the initials 'H.H.' Of course she regrets it but can't bring herself to get it removed.

She speaks with a slight cajun slant to her accent. It used to be far more noticeable than it is now.