Play@YSDC

3pm Tuesday 16th March 2010, High Wycombe Police Station, Buckinghamshire

3hrs until the church service.

After eventually managing to collect his thoughts enough to rejoin the traffic, Kris manages to make it to Prisha's house without any further difficulties. She's not in when he arrives and he parks it out the front, slipping the keys through the letter box. Jocelyn and Simon meet him at the house to pick him up. They both notice the grazing along the sidewalls of the Range Rover tyres but the look on Kris;s face tells them not to ask.

Ten minutes later they arrive at the Wycombe Police Station. The sky is very overcast now, bathing the town in a preternatural gloom - like there's a major storm coming. At least the power seems to be back on and they can't hear the grumbling of the diesel generator.

Kris approached the front desk. ”Where's DI Malone?” he asked the duty sergeant.

Jocelyn follows Kris inside. She knows better than to comment on the Range Rover.

Simon also follows. Further time removed from his dream allows him to regain his usual skepticism, if only just. But there's a hint of mania peeking up beneath the surface; he is increasingly desperate to catch Balfour in the act and prove that this entire thing was a run of the mill group of religiously fanatical terrorists and that there was no real supernatural involvement. He had always prided himself on his sense of reason, and the fact the man had made him start to doubt that reason could explain all of this infuriated him. Simon would get to the bottom of this. He would make it all make sense.

DI Malone is at his desk with a half eaten Pret A Manger sandwich. As Kris and the others enter he stands up and wipes off his hands. 'About time you showed up Sapru, did you sort out the child in London, taken into emergency protection?' Before even waiting for an answer he continues, 'Anyway, we've got enough on our plate here. Revd Balfour is going ahead with his service, with or without his daughter. He's all over the news, serving writs and injunctions but Miss Goldfarb has been able to use that as more evidence against him and keep Regina in care, at least until tomorrow.'

He opens the blinds to his office and looks out into the street outside, 'That odious Thomas woman was here earlier with her news crew. But I think they've gone.' Closing the blinds and turning back he says, 'They're probably outside the church now. We've got crowds of gawkers and even some nutjobs claiming to be new converts, I've got uniform on the ground managing traffic! I don't know whether Balfour is letting them into the church but they'll at least be gathering outside - as you might appreciate, relations between the church and the police are currently...a little strained.'

He picks a manila file up from his desk and throws it towards Kris, it has COMPLAINT: K SAPRU - L BATES; 15/3/10 written in black marker across the front. Handwritten notes spill out and some photographs, the one Kris can see looks like it is documenting Sarah Balfour's injuries in the car crash. 'You're lucky I don't even have time to deal with this right now.' He gathers the folder back up and shoves it aggressively into a drawer.

'Your Johnny Zero is still in custody, Regina in care. So where do we stand? The Revd Balfour is pressing ahead with his service at 6pm today. We need a police presence for the public order risk alone. I can maybe even justify having an armed response vehicle on standby. Is what you learned about your child in London enough to get this service closed down completely?'

"Unfortunately, no," says Jocelyn. "We're going to have to keep a close eye on Reverend Balfour. He doesn't seem like he's just going to give up."

"I spoke with Louise Hayman. She admitted to me she lied about having no contact with Mr. Zero-- he called her up a few weeks ago and asked her to put him in touch with some of his old associates. Given his loyalty to Balfour it seems evident he was on some business for the man."

'So we still have concerns, but not enough to close it down...' biting his lip he asks, 'What about the terrorism angle?' Looking particularly at Jocelyn.

"Unfortunately, we have nothing there that we didn't already know," says Jocelyn. "We have suspicions, but no hard proof. Balfour was probably radicalised in Kenya, but we can't definitively connect him to Red Trumpet. I can check with MI5 to see if they've learned anything more since last I spoke to them, but I wouldn't bet on it."

"The fact he strangled and very nearly killed me when I mentioned the group to him should serve to prove he's dangerously unstable and connected to them. Frankly, I don't understand how he wasn't arrested for that." He glares at everyone in the room.

'As best we were able to establish, Balfour wants to carry out what he believes will bring about the end of the world; the death of a lamb. As best as we were able to determine there are two young children whose families are among the church membership.I suspect he'll attempt to kill one of them, which will be the signal for his followers to unleash hell on earth. Zero all but confirmed that he had an alternative plan this time around; he's determined not to postpone the apocalypse again. He does desperately want Regina back. I think he ironically believes she'll only be safe with him, if the end of the world does happen."

"Perhaps we can use that to our advantage," he muses. "I suggest we contact Balfour and offer to release Regina into his custody a few moments before his sermon is to begin, as a sign of good faith. In return, we demand ourselves and/or armed officers attend his sermon, ostensibly to prevent any unrest given all the troubles his church has had recently. That way if Balfour tries anything we'll be ready to stop him before he murders his daughter. And if Balfour refuses the offer, that gives you all the evidence you need to prove the man is plotting something he does not want the police there to stop."

"Couldn't we simply press charges for the assault now?" asks Jocelyn. "That would shut down his ritual right quick. We could lock him up overnight. It would be morning before he gets a bail hearing."

Kris was distracted by the complaint but managed to snap himself out of it to weigh in with his thoughts.”Arresting Balfour is going to look heavy-handed but that might be our last resort,” he said. ”If he’s holed up in church, it could prove difficult to get him out without turning it into a siege, and if he’s still in there when it’s service time, the game’s over.”

He thought for a bit. “We could offer to return Regina but he and Mrs Balfour will both need to be present to pick her up. That gets him out of the church and when he’s here, arrest him for assault?” he suggested.

Simon contemplates. "The issue with that is that it's only a temporary solution. Balfour would be out in a short time I suspect, especially as he can argue he was under a lot of stress with his daughter being kidnapped. He'd miss the prophesied date, but his church would receive a massive outpouring of sympathy--thanks in part to that odious Thomas woman-- and be bigger than ever. And if he ever decided another date is meant to bring about the end of the world, he'd be much harder to stop. Based on interactions with Mr. Zero I don't think anyone is likely to turn on him in the interim either."

"I agree that its better than nothing and a last resort. But our aim should be on a permanent solution; in my view, that's getting men on the inside of his service and catching him in the act the moment he shows any indication of harming his daughter."

'With all due sympathy for what Dr Eagleton here experienced at the hands of Revd Balfour,' adds Malone, 'No jury would ever convict him after what he's been through with his daughter - and I wouldn't be able to justify keeping him in custody, you've seen the lawyers he has available on the end of the phone.'

He presses the first two fingers of each hand against his temples and rubs them in slow circles, closing his eyes as if in some pain. Eventually he opens them again.

'This suggestion of returning Regina to get officers inside the church. Talk me through that - how we aren't recklessly endangering the child - and how I persuade social services to go along with it after only just getting them to take the child out of her parents' custody.'

”We don’t necessarily need a long-term solution, we just need to get him put of the way tonight so whatever he’s got planned is interrupted,” he said. ”He can’t conduct the service if he isn’t there.”

"Sometimes to take a king you need to sacrifice a pawn," says Simon. Looking at the likely horrified faces of those around him, he clarifies. "No I'm not suggesting we let Balfour murder his daughter, that's what the police would be there to prevent. But we know with a high certainty that other children will be present in the church. If we don't get our men inside the service, he's likely to just murder one of them, and there won't be anything we can do about it. Even were we able to arrest him there's no reason to think that one of his other followers couldn't just go ahead and do the murder for him. It's not as though it will have any special effect; all they need to do is believe they've fulfilled the Lord's will and they'll go ahead with whatever they're planning; and that could be much worse than a single murder.

"Balfour's weakness--the only one we can exploit at present-- is his love for his daughter. He is a true believer and thinks her sacrifice will bring about the end of the world, but he also believe the Lord will protect her as he did with Issac. I think he feels he's already delayed too long and needs to go ahead with the sacrifice, but he's afraid if Regina is not present for it she will die without his protection, which means he's not thinking clearly. We need to use this as leverage and get as many people close to him ready to intervene as we can. And if he for any reason refuses the offer, it provides you with further evidence of his ill intent. What father would not want his child back for the end of the world?

"As for how to get the girl released, can't you just tell social services its not worth the bad press any longer? Balfour's more popular than ever and we don't have any direct evidence he's ever abused her. Coach it as trying to avoid a lawsuit for religious discrimination or some such."

"That's true," says Jocelyn in response to Kris. "We only need to disrupt what he's planning tonight. After that, then we can worry about him rescheduling it, because then we'll have time. And after a second failed prediction of the end of the world, his reputation will suffer, and fewer will still believe him. But I don't want to put Regina at any risk."

”I’m not suggesting that we actually hand her over. We just say we’re willing to do it, we’ve just got to satisfy ourselves that she’s not at risk so we just need to ask them a few questions first,” said Kris.

'I can't be making bargains with Balfour that we don't intend to keep. And I can't arrest him in the hope he'll call off his service. We may not need a long-term solution but it is going to need to be better than "arrest Balfour tonight". I still have to deal with the religious congregations in this town and I'm going to have to deal with the flack from the media and the Chief Super.'

"Then the three of us will just have to keep Balfour under surveillance," says Jocelyn. "He's desperate, and that makes him likely to make a mistake. And if he does, we'll be watching and ready. There's also that shelter he has prepared, where he plans to survive the end of the world somehow. If it weren't available to him, maybe he'd reconsider his plans."

”That last bit might not be such a bad idea,” said Kris.

"Yes, that would be worth a try," says Jocelyn.

'You want to arrange a telephone call between Balfour and Regina but listen in? Now in normal circumstances that would require a court order but...hmm...if she's already in the care of social services maybe they can give the authority to monitor the call. Let me get hold of Roxanna Goldfarb before they knock off for the day and see if I can sort that out. Anything else?'

"I'm concerned about Julie Thomas," says Jocelyn. "She has an inside source with the police, and anything the police do, she seems to know it almost before they do. She apparently has a very persuasive colleague who has convinced someone to leak information. Has there been any progress in identifying the source?"

"Time is short, but anyway we could use that to our advantage?" Simon muses. "Put out that we're moving Regina out of fear for her safety and hope it leaks and Balfour's goons take the bait? If they use force to try to 'rescue' her and we can tie them back to the church, perhaps we'll be able to justify shutting down the entire service and taking Balfour in. We've less than three hours though so this may not be feasible, but perhaps we can come up with some way to exploit the leak and force Balfour to incriminate himself."

"That's a good idea," says Jocelyn. "Time being short, and Balfour being desperate, means that he may take the bait. We just have to make sure nobody outside this room knows it's a trick. Otherwise, Julie Thomas will get wind of that and pass along word. But if everyone else thinks it's for real, she will too."

'Unfortunately there's not been time to conduct a mole hunt while we've been dealing with the Balfour case. But give me a second, I have an idea.' He takes out a police radio from a drawer in his desk. 'All units, all units, this is Romeo Mike, standby for an urgent message, over.'

'I'm going to request help moving Regina Balfour from her emergency care placement in...hmm..where do we want to say she is and where do we want to say she's going?'

"We'll have to say she is where she really is now," says Jocelyn. "We have to presume Balfour and his people already know that, and if we use a different location, they'd be onto it. As to where to bring her, it has to be a location we control. Is there a safe house nearby we can use?"

That had occurred to me, but if Malone is the leak, there's really nothing that we can do about it, and I didn't want to voice that suspicion to his face. If it is him, at least we'd find out quickly.

Simon says nothing as to Malone's code name; he's no Freudian.

"One presumes we're not actually moving her, just making it seem like we are. Why not suggest we're going to try a quiet move of her to a nearby group home? If that gets leaked, Balfour has the perfect opportunity to try and snatch her up. We should imply we're doing it right after she talks to her father ."

”If that were the case, won’t it seem a bit strange that we’re broadcasting that to all units?” said Kris.

DI Malone shrugs. 'We don't have long. If we want to get the message out it will need to be broadcast widely. Unless you have an idea who we might tip-off to get back to Balfour? It's a risk either way. I'll be guided by you.'

"Balfour's a desperate father and likely not thinking clearly." Simon chimes in. "I think we can risk rolling the dice here. If he sees a chance to get his daughter back before the world ends he's likely going to take it."

"I think its worth a shot," says Jocelyn. "He doesn't have Johnny Zero to do his dirty work for him any more, so this could flush him out. We could tail the decoy vehicle as it pretends to transport her. Even if they make us, that only lends credence to our ruse. When they make their move, we close the trap. We'll need a decoy vehicle of course, something with tinted windows, and someone we can trust to pretend to drive her to the safe house. And we'll need to keep security stepped up at Regina's real location, and keep it elevated. If the trap doesn't work, he may try for her there."

”One of us could drive, with the other two as backup?” suggested Kris. ”We might want an armed response unit on standby, just in case.”

'I can get an ARV on standby. My understanding is the girl's in an emergency placement in Aylesbury, there is no police presence and I don't even know the exact location. Will I broadcast the real location or a fake location? And where do we say we're moving her?' He raps his fingers on the desk. 'If you want extra security where she's staying, a uniformed officer maybe, who do we trust?'

"I suppose Lucy Bates is out," Simon chuckles, but then has the good grace to look chastened. "Bad jest, forgive me."

"While I cannot help with that, I think we should assume if there's a leak Balfour already knows his daughter's real location. Best we make it seem as legitimate as possible and go with the actual one. As to where we're moving her, why not here? Drop a mention of how we're hoping to interrogate her about her father-- that should fill Balfour's head with all sorts of paranoid delusions about how we're locking his child up or looking for a reason to lock him up."

"Yes, that could work," says Jocelyn. "Kris should drive the decoy vehicle, since he's a constable and he already knows that Regina's not in it, and nobody else need know. Simon and I can follow discreetly in my hire car, which I'll be driving. Balfour hasn't seen it before. If he knows we're heading here, he'll realise he can't snatch Regina from the station surrounded by police, so he'll have to try for her in transit. That's when we'll get him. We'd better get up to Aylesbury so we can be in position."

”A fake but believable destination,” mused Kris. ”One with a garage where we might load Regina into a car without being seen.”

“Have we got anywhere like that?” he asked DI Malone.

'We have the station in Aylesbury. If that's not a long enough drive there's here in Wycombe. Tring, Waddesdon, Thame are all out, no cover to do anything without being seen.' Placing his fingers together, he frowns and takes a deep breath. 'A bit further afield there's plenty of room in Bicester, St Aldates in Oxford, Abingdon.'

"We'll have to time this carefully, so that he has a chance to make an attempt," says Jocelyn. "If the destination is also in Aylesbury, that doesn't leave him much time. Oxford may be a good choice. Some of us know our way around there already, and it's big enough to be plausible. We just have to make sure that Balfour has enough time to make it there and back in time for the ritual barring unforeseen events, and then make sure those unforeseen events happen. Alternatively, we could simply use the station here in Wycombe. That's also plausible, and he won't be worried about not making it back in time."

Kris looked at the map of the area. ”We need somewhere that minimises Balfour’s ‘loiter time’, as it were. The less time he has to plan, the more likely he is to make a mistake,” he said. ”Which of these works best for that?”

"That's a good point," says Jocelyn. "If the destination is here, that gives him too much time. Maybe Oxford would be better."

Kris glanced at DI Malone. ”I don’t suppose we’ve got a safe house there, have we?” he asked.

"We do have connections in Oxford," says Jocelyn. "We'll sort of have home field advantage there."

Luck roll (46% stat) to see if there's a safe house in Oxford:
d%

Malone frowns. 'I shouldn't really be telling you this, but yes, we do have a house in Summertown in North Oxford. Mostly used for witness protection work. It's empty right now.'

”That’s the one,” said Kris quickly, not giving Malone time to back track. ”If we can have the keys, we”II be on our way.”

"Thank you, that sounds excellent," says Jocelyn. "Does it have a garage?"

Malone blusters, 'It...I...oh alright. Yes, it has a garage attached to the main house. It's detached, big screening hedges, a garage to the side big enough for two cars.' He scrabbles around in his desk and eventually produces some sort of plastic chit. 'Take this to the stores and give them this, they'll give you the key. Don't say what it's for. We need to keep at least some security in this place.'

He starts searching his desk again and eventually pulls out the police radio. 'So what do I say?' he asks, holding his thumb over the radio, ready to broadcast.

Jocelyn looks to Kris, who is more familiar with police procedure.

Always thinking he knows best, Simon pipes up. "We're moving Regina into protective custody to keep her away from her father. Best to be direct even if it is rather on the nose. This will feed into his paranoia and hopefully he'll take the bait."

”Agreed,” said Kris. For once, Simon was right.

He took the chit from Malone. He’d get the keys and his tactical gear and then they’d be on the road.

Malone keys the radio to transmit. 'I say again, all units, all units, this is Romeo Mike. Be advised we are moving witness from social services emergency care to protective custody, witness is at risk from her father. Witness, last name Balfour, first name Regina, age zero-five years, sex female. Father, last name Balfour, first name John, age four-four years, sex male. Moving at time one-six-zero-zero hours, from location in Aylesbury to address two-two Wentworth Road, Oxford. Repeating, two-two Wentworth Road, town name Oxford. Be aware that hostile elements may try and intercept the transfer. All units in areas of Aylesbury, Oxford, and roads alpha-four-one-eight and alpha-four-zero be alert, over.'

He turns off the radio.

'The trap is set. It's up to you now.'

"Right, let's roll," says Jocelyn. "We need to get to Aylesbury before Balfour gets the jump on us and tries to spring her before we pretend to move her...and before Julie Thomas inevitably shows up."

DI Malone authorises all of them to be issued with body armour. Kris has his CS gas and baton, he isn't firearms trained so won't be given a handgun or a taser. As a civilian Simon doesn't get given anything - even pepper spray is restricted in the UK. As Jocelyn has firearms training and pre-existing authorisation from the Chief Inspector she is issued a Glock 17 handgun.

Before they leave, Malone calls Jocelyn into his office. He points at the gun holstered on her hip. 'You use that without explicit authorisation Thames Valley Police will deny all knowledge - you understand? It will be MI5's pile of shit to clear up, you understand?'

-----

Kris selects the unmarked car that looks the most like it belongs to the police, it just so happens that's a white BMW 3 series foolishly left in the car park by the roads policing unit. He roars off in a cloud of smoke, leaving Simon and Jocelyn behind in the hire car. He's soon motoring down the A413 before the others have even left the streets of High Wycombe.



They've identified a social services building on the outskirts of Aylesbury, a family visitation centre that Malone has had cleared out before they arrive. Kris does a few laps of the town, ostensibly looking for any signs of Balfour or anyone else from the church while he waits for Jocelyn to catch up. Then he rolls into the car park and up to a rear garage that seems to be used for deliveries. He parks up for fifteen minutes while Jocelyn and Simon lurk outside.

There's no sign of anyone tailing you or hanging around outside the visitation centre.

"Understood, sir," says Jocelyn, securing her pistol. "I hope I don't need to use it. I didn't during the rescue. But if lives are at stake, I'll do what I have to do and worry about cleaning up the mess later."

When she arrives, she parks and waits for Kris to finish pretending to pick up Regina. She notices nothing out of the ordinary.

Spot Hidden roll (61% skill) outside the building:
d%

OOC:   Okay then, Simon will spend the two luck.

"No sign of the Reverend or his men," Simon reports.

Kris slowly rolls out of the garage and across the forecourt of the visitation centre. The windows in the BMW are heavily tinted and he's put a pile of blankets in the back of the car in case someone looks inside, hoping they'll pass for a sleeping child. There's been no evidence of anyone else loitering in the area. He checks his watch, 4pm precisely. Kris knows the traffic will start getting heavier as people begin to leave work. Ordinarily it would only take about half an hour to get to Oxford but he reckons that in the run up to rush hour traffic it could even be as long as an hour to get there. Making it tight to get back to the church service in High Wycombe for 6pm.

Not liking the look of the traffic, Kris clicked the central locking on, hearing the ‘clunk’ as the locks engaged. He’d look pretty foolish if the car was stationary and someone just walked up and opened the doors.

Driving soberly through the streets of Aylesbury, Kris leaves the town and pulls out onto the A418, Jocelyn and Simon following a few cars behind. There's no trouble so far and no sign of anyone following them. Traffic is beginning to get a bit thicker and the road is busy, making it difficult for Jocelyn to maintain the distance she would like. Kris starts to open up the BMW a bit, hoping to make up some time on the journey over to Oxford but his overtaking just makes it more difficult for Jocelyn.

The sky is overcast and the afternoon takes a gloomy turn. It isn't raining but there's definitely threats of it in the dark clouds overhead. The air has a slightly ionised feel to it, like you sometimes get with thunderstorms. The drivers on the road seem particularly bad tempered today and there's a fair bit of horns blaring and flashing of lights.

I'd like everyone, including Simon, to roll Drive Auto

"Bloody hell!" cries Jocelyn, expertly handling the wheel.

Drive Auto roll (50% skill) in the traffic jam:
d%

Kris revs the BMW - he gets a little thrill as he's pushed back into his seat with the acceleration - pulling out onto the other side of the road and overtaking several irate commuters. Jocelyn does her best to keep up behind in the Focus. It's trying work for Jocelyn but Kris does seem to be able to pick just the right spots to overtake and even finds a neat little shortcut that gains them a bit more time. In fact they're well ahead of schedule when the A418 begin to slow down again around Thame. There's no spaces to overtake and the traffic coming in the opposite direction is getting busier. Both Kris and Jocelyn can see that something is going on up ahead. Kris thinks he might even see some cars turning around in the road in the far distance and there's the sound of people honking their horns impatiently. Kris reckons there's some kind of obstruction up ahead.

Jocelyn maintains her position behind Kris's car, keeping her eyes peeled. "Maybe Balfour was able to arrange something in our path to slow us down," she says.

"I wouldn't put anything past him," Simon declares. "Be vigilant."

Keeping sufficient distance in front of him to allowing for braking and manoeuvring, Kris allows the car to ghost up to the white line, giving him a better view of what lay ahead.

Spot hidden (40%) 1d100

Edit: Normal dice rolling has resumed… I’m beginning to wonder whether Kris has any appreciable skills after all.