"I don't know who they were," said Brian. "I never met them, and I didn't take part in the experiment. Dad wouldn't have let me, anyway. It's going to be run again this weekend with a new group. The experiment involves lucid dreaming, where you can control your dreams. The students stay overnight in the lab for three nights in a row. Half of them are in the control group, and they're given chocolate milk to drink. The other half are given Morpheus, which looks just like chocolate milk. This happens at midnight. Dad tells them what he wants them to try to dream about before they go to sleep. When they wake up, he and his assistants interview them immediately, asking them questions about their dreams and making notes. I already told Mr. Gains some of this." He paused in thought. "He knew something about it already, because this girl Emily Simmons who was in the experiment came to see him. She smashed up her car, right?" He looked at Alan for confirmation.
"Yes. She claimed that something was pursuing her. Something not human. From what I gathered, she's never been on any drugs, nothing else that could cause these. I believe that the Morpheus is responsible, but at the moment, that's just guesswork."
"She'd probably know the other students' first names," said Brian. "I imagine that all of the students in the experiment talked to each other while they were in the lab. Don't know if they divulged their last names, though. She'd know what they look like for sure. Dad would know a lot more about them, but even if I wanted to involve him he'd never reveal it. All of their personal information would be confidential. If you want to know about the people helping him run the experiment, one of his assistants is a woman psychology professor named Nancy Remington. She's a real looker, petite and with long, dark hair. She's about thirty, maybe thirty-five. Then there's the guy in the wheelchair, Jerome Padgett, who's around thirty. He's some kind of technological wizard."
There was a knock on the door from outside. A moment later, it opened to reveal the black uniformed cop who was on duty in the guard room along with a strong man in plainclothes in his thirties, with brown curly hair and a mustache to match. Father Levington did not recognize the second man, but Alan Gains had met him before. This was Sergeant Charlie Rawlings, one of the policemen who had arrested Brian Anderson. Brian gulped when he saw the tough sergeant.
"All right," said Rawlings, "it's question and answer time. Father, I'll have to ask you to leave the room." He frowned at Alan Gains. "You! You're the one who was following us! Just who the hell are you, and how'd you get in here?"
"He's my lawyer," said Brian, "and you're not talking to me unless he's with us!"
"It's going to be all right, Brian," Alan reassured him. Brian just nodded numbly.
Once Father Levington stepped out of the room, Sergeant Rawlings stepped in and the uniformed cop closed the door from the outside. Though he could no longer see what was going on in the room, the priest was able to hear raised voices from the other side.
Charlie Rawlings strode up to the table, slammed his hands down on it, and leaned forward, glaring at Brian. "What was in that thermos?!" he snapped.
Brian flinched, but Alan Gains put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to answer that," he said.
"Like hell he doesn't! We've got a man in the hospital on account of it, and he happens to be a good friend of mine! You'd better hope for your sake that nothing bad happens to him, you little twerp!" He loomed menacingly over Brian, who cowered back in his chair.
"He'll be fine!" said Brian, his will easily broken. "Look, it's just going to put him to sleep for a few hours and give him some freaky dreams, that's all. It's called Morpheus."
"Never heard of it. What the hell is it?"
"It's some herbal concoction my dad cooked up. I, um, borrowed some of it from him. I was going to replace it, but it sounds like your man must have drunk it."
"Who's your daddy, then?"
"He's Dr. Gregory Anderson, a professor at Penn's medical school. He's running this psych experiment with student volunteers to test the stuff. Please, don't tell him about this!"
"You ain't exactly in a strong bargaining position, kid. What happens next is up to the Lou. Now I've got to go make a phone call. Don't get too comfortable. I'll be back before you know it." He opened the door and returned to the guard room. He nodded to the priest. "You can go back in for now, Padre." Then he went over to the desk, picked up the phone, and dialed it.
OOC,[b]Father Levington[/b], roll Listen if you want to try to overhear what he says on the phone. [b]Alan Gains[/b], you can roll too if you return.
Father Nathaniel Levington,"Yes, this is [b]Sergeant Charlie Rawlings[/b] of the Philadelphia Police," said [b]Sergeant Rawlings[/b] into the mouthpiece. "I'm calling for [b]Lieutenant John Yeager[/b]. He's a big guy, dark hair with a receding hairline, wearing a brown overcoat. He'll be with [b]Detective Harry Sawyer[/b] when they bring him in, along with an older gentleman and a pretty lady cop. Don't know if they've arrived yet-" He paused. "Great, put him on!" He paused again, then spoke cheerfully. "I sure am, Lou. [b]Candyman[/b] said it's called Morpheus, and that [b]Harry[/b] will be fine - that it'll just put him to sleep for a few hours and give him some freaky dreams. Now I've never heard of this Morpheus junk before, but he told me his old man cooked it up from some herbs. Get this: the guy's a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine named [b]Dr. Gregory Anderson[/b]. Apparently he's testing it on student volunteers as part of some psych experiment. The little scumbag sang like a canary, and I didn't even have to lay a finger on him. He already had a lawyer in there with him, along with some priest. Guess who the lawyer was? It was that guy that who followed us from Lenny's Bar in the taxicab!" He listened again. ""Yeah, they're still here, Lou. [b]Brian[/b] stole this stuff from his dad, and he's real desperate not to let him find out, too. That gives us more leverage on him."
Roll History to see if you've heard of the name Morpheus.
In the outer room, Charlie Rawlings hung up the phone, dialed another number, and began speaking.
Father Nathaniel Levington,"Yeah, this is [b]Sergeant Rawlings[/b]," said the sergeant. "I need a car sent down to the main emergency entrance of Jefferson Hospital to pick up [b]Lieutenant John Yeager[/b] and company and spin them back here." He waited for a response. "Okay, thanks."
Sergeant Rawlings walked back into the interrogation room, addressing Father Levington. "So, Father, what's your name and what brings you here?" he asked.
"Nice to meet you, Father," said the sergeant, shaking his hand with a strong grip. "I'm Sergeant Charlie Rawlings. So he used his phone call to call you, huh? Under the circumstances I'm not surprised he didn't call his earthly father. Have you known him long? Are you a friend of the family or something?"
"No, no, I haven't known him long." Levington said. "I'm not sure why he called me first to be honest."
Levington leaned in and spoke quietly to the sergeant.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened exactly that got Brian arrested? I don't know much about whats going on, all I heard was that he'd tried to kill someone."
"That's at the top of a long list of charges," Charlie Rawlings replied. "Lieutenant Yeager and I arrested him when he was in the middle of selling drugs. He then resisted arrest and took a swing at the Lou, but he was ready and managed to subdue him. Then a old man came forward and told us Brian tried to kill him."
"That guy was crazy!" protested Brian. "I've never even seen that old guy before in my life!"
OOC,I'm rather curious to tell whose telling the truth around here, and I'm going to go probing some. First, I'm curious whether or not Brian's being honest that he's never seen this guy before. Second, I'm giong to try and find out if the cops know more about this other guy then their letting on. Let me know if I need to make any rolls.
"Who is this guy that came forward? What proof does he have?'' Levington paused. "It seems like a strange thing to make up, which is the only other option here."
Father Nathaniel Levington,While Psychology is not an automatic lie detector, it can give you some helpful insights into other people.
[b]Brian Anderson[/b], while an angry young man who no doubt has much to feel guilty about, seems genuinely bewildered and confused that he's being accused of attempted murder. [b]Sergeant Rawlings[/b] is very concerned about his friend in the hospital, and seems determined to put the man he holds responsible away.
"Well...I don't know the guy's name," said Sergeant Rawlings. "He sounds like an okay guy, though, just a bit disoriented after what he's been through. You're right, it's not the sort of thing someone would make up, and he seems sincere to me. Maybe you can meet him yourself when he gets back from the hospital, Father. Shouldn't be long now. As for proof, well, that's something for Homicide to investigate. I'm not about to discuss the details of an ongoing investigation in front of the guy that did it - or his lawyer." He shot a glance at Alan.