IC - 28 - The Big Smoke - Simon and Jocelyn

[Philulhu]

Spot hidden (40%) 1d100

Edit: No luck for Kris!

[Silver Priest]

1d100

"Iregardless, the child should be our priority. Are we in agreement its better if we prevent her from reaching Balfour? If so, I welcome suggestions how to prevent that."

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn has no idea who the person watching from the window is. "Someone has to follow them on foot," she says, "and Louise has already made me and probably Simon, so that leaves Kris. We can keep in touch by phone. If they go for a car, let us know, and we'll pick you up and start tailing them."

Spot Hidden roll (61% skill) to identify the watcher:
d%

[Philulhu]

Kris grumbled about it but got out of the car. ”Keep an eye on the house,” he said, before closing the door and setting off at a brisk-but-casual pace to close the gap between himself, Louise and child, making sure she was in sight at all times.

[Mephistophilis]

Kris follows Louise and the child for around ten minutes until they arrive at an old Victorian building. The sign outside reads Brindishe Green Primary School. It doesn't seem that the school has fully opened yet but various parents are dropping their kids off to what looks like some kind of before-school childcare. Louise waves to the girl who skips off with a friend, and then she turns to walk back the way she came. Kris crosses the road and tries to look inconspicuous, despite being dressed in last night's clothes with a faint smell of stale body odour.

Can you roll me Stealth to see if she made you

-----

The man in the window disappears back inside. There's no further movement from the house.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn keeps an eye on the house, watching to see if the man reappears.

[Silver Priest]

As does Simon.

[Philulhu]

Stealth (27%) 1d100

Kris took advantage of a four-by-four pulling up to drop off a child to remain out of sight of Louise.

As he leaned against a nearby lamppost, he sent a quick text message to the others while watching which way she went next.

’Child dropped off @ school.’

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn texts back: "A man in her place was looking out the window but can't get a good look."

[Mephistophilis]

Kris is able to follow Louise at a distance, she's seems unaware of his presence. She retraces her steps and eventually returns to her house and disappears inside. Kris rejoins Jocelyn and Simon and they continue to watch the house.

Looking down at his phone Kris notices a series of text messages from Lucy.

What is going on?

Where are you?

I need to go to bed!

WTF?!?

-----

About thirty minutes later the front door opens and Louise and the man they think is Henry Samuels come out. Louise is carrying a small pink backpack, probably her daughter's judging by the unicorns. They start walking back in the direction of Samuels's flat and Louise's shop.

[Philulhu]

’Shiiit!’ Kris thought to himself. He’d forgotten about Lucy!

’Sorry, Lucy! Something came up!’ he texted her. ’Get some rest and we’ll catch up later.’

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he eyed up Louise. ”Why has she got the backpack with her? Why didn’t she take it to the school earlier?” he asked.

[Mr. Handy]

"They're definitely up to something," says Jocelyn, her hunch confirmed. "I don't think that backpack is for her daughter. My guess is she doesn't want to sacrifice her daughter, so they're going to try to snatch some other child. We need to stick with them so we can catch them in the act. Same procedure as before. Once you figure out where they're going, we'll drive there. I just hope they don't split up."

[Silver Priest]

"I'm not convinced by that." Simon says. "Kidnapping a child draws attention, to say nothing of the child's reactions. It may not be the demure sacrifice Balfour's no doubt hoping for. Although... these people aren't exactly rational, and Louise's zealotry could be clashing with her love for her child. If so, we may be able to exploit that. If she has doubts her own child will be saved, perhaps there's a part of her unwilling to condemn another to the same fate.

"Of course if we just continue to follow her and catch her in the act that would be ideal."

[Mr. Handy]

"Also, if they believe the world ends tonight, they won't be concerned about consequences," says Jocelyn.

[Philulhu]

”So we watch her and we see what she does,” said Kris. ”I don’t suppose there’s a chance I might get a shower, is there?”

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm sorry, there's no time at present," says Jocelyn. "I'm sure I could use one too."

[Philulhu]

Kris pulled a face and cracked open a window to let in some fresh air…

[Mr. Handy]

"You should follow them again," says Jocelyn. "Once you figure out where they're going, I'll drive over and meet you there."

[Philulhu]

”Bollocks!” grumbled Kris, who really didn’t want to have to get out the car and tramp the streets again. He sighed and pushed open the door. ”I don’t see why it has to be me again. Can’t we just get a disguise for one of you?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, but pushed the door closed, reacquired his targets and set off down the road.

[Mephistophilis]

There's a final text from Lucy

Fuck you Kris

-----

Kris follows Louise and Samuels, they first walk for a few minutes back to his flat, and with a brief kiss he goes inside. Then Louise continues walking towards the high street where her nail bar is located.

Just as he starts following Louise, Kris's phone rings. It's DI Malone.

'Where the hell are you Sapru?' the Detective Inspector barks down the phone. 'We have to plan how to manage some kind of end-of-the-world doomsday cult and my investigating officer hasn't even bloody turned up to work!.' The man keeps shouting, preventing Kris from getting a word in. 'I know Grey and Adebayo didn't find anything incriminating, and don't even get me started on what happened to Sarah Balfour! She's out of hospital at least but she described a police officer who sounded an awful lot like DS Bates. I need you back here to answer a number of questions for me, but most importantly because I need my least incompetent detective to come and plan how we manage this high profile, and I'm told now nationally televised apocalyptic church service!'