IC - 5 - Sarah Balfour - Jocelyn

[Mephistophilis]

11.30pm Thursday 11th March 2010, High Wycombe Police Station

Five hours since Regina Balfour was abducted.

DS Bates invites Mrs Balfour into the interview room. It is off white with a blue laminate table pushed up against one wall and two plastic chairs on either side. There are two tiny windows set very high up in the wall and the room is lit by fluorescent strip bulbs, one of which flickers disconcertingly, while the other has blown, lending the room a sinister shadowy appearance.

Sarah Balfour is a slim and elegantly dressed black woman in her late thirties. However, her clothes are crumpled and her face is puffy with a bloody and swollen nose and a black eye. Her hands are trembling as she holds them in her lap.

Lucy Bates introduces herself and says 'this is Miss Leigh, she is assisting the investigation.'

Around the window a few houseflies buzz distractingly.

[Mr. Handy]

"Mrs. Balfour, we're going to do everything in our power to find your daughter, and you can help us," says Jocelyn, sitting down across from Sarah. "Why don't you start by describing in your own words what happened? Leave no detail out. Even if it doesn't seem important to you, it may have some bearing."

[Mephistophilis]

'Well, um...it was all so quick. I just turned my back for a second and he was there...O Lord my God, Regina...', Mrs Balfour breaks down sobbing.

In an uncharacteristically warm gesture, Lucy Bates places her hand on Sarah Balfour's arm, 'take your time'.

After a minute or so she gathers herself together, 'an older man, I didn't recognise him, he took Regina, then, I don't know why, he came back and tried to take her backpack, where Regina keeps her spare medication, I just grabbed it and hung on, stupidly, oh why couldn't I have grabbed Regina..., she starts sobbing again.

'Then he kicked me and ran away, I didn't see where he went because of the pain,' she raises her hand to her bruised face, 'he broke my nose'.

After that it is a bit of a blur, the security guards were there, then they locked the shop doors and said there was someone outside with a gun. After a few minutes there were loud bangs, gunshots maybe, then the police came.

Please, you must find my daughter, she's my only child.., her eyes drop and she starts mumbling to herself, her hands fiddling in her lap as she prays, 'O Lord God, I come to you for help and succor, give me grace to bear these challenges with patience and strength. Bless me, O Father, and restore my child Regina to us. Do not forsake us, but give us an assurance of Your loving Kingdom as revealed to us in the Book of the Passover Angel.'

[Mr. Handy]

"We'll do everything we can," Jocelyn assures her. She shows her a still photo of the kidnapper. "Is this the man? His hair and beard were dyed as a disguise. His natural hair colour looks like it was blond and grey. Have you ever seen anyone who looked like this man if his hair were that colour?"

[Mephistophilis]

Sarah Balfour looks carefully at the picture.



'I'm not sure, it isn't a very good picture. No, I don't think I recognise him.'

OOC,Sarah Balfour Spot Hidden 40%[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

"Do you or your husband have any known enemies?" asks Jocelyn. "You might not have thought they'd go this far, but is there anyone at all who has opposed or argued with either of you?"

OOC,It's too bad NPCs can't spend Luck. That roll was close! Can I spend Luck on her behalf?

[Mephistophilis]

Sarah Balfour looks shocked at the suggestion. 'No, no enemies. Ours is a welcoming church.'

OOC,No spending Luck or pushing rolls for NPCs I'm afraid.

[Mr. Handy]

"Tell me about your church," says Jocelyn. "I'd like to learn more about it."

[Mephistophilis]

'Well, you should really talk to John about it.' says Mrs Balfour

'It's his church, he built it up from nothing when he came back from Kenya. He was so driven all of a sudden. He wrote the book, 'The Book of the Passover Angel', it explains everything.'

She starts to become tearful again, 'But I don't see how that's relevant right now. You should be out looking for Regina!'

[Mr. Handy]

"All right, Mrs. Balfour, we'll do that," says Jocelyn. She glances over at DS Bates. "Do you have any questions for her?"

[Mephistophilis]

DS Bates nods to Jocelyn. Flies buzz about her head and she waves them away as best she can. 'Mrs Balfour, can you tell me about Regina's health problems. I understand she had medication in her backpack, what was it for?'

Sarah Balfour takes a deep breath and seems to gather herself. 'Regina has insulin dependent diabetes. She uses an insulin pump to control her blood sugars, we've had so much difficulty getting control of her sugars, she had hypos and DKA, and all sorts of problems until the pump. Anyway, the pump works well for her, it has enough insulin for maybe a day, three days at most, I can't remember when we last refilled it, but she always keeps emergency supplies in her ladybird backpack, spare insulin, Lucozade...oh what will she do without it, you must find her!' She collapses into sobs again.

Gently DS Bates presses her, 'I know this is difficult, but is there anyone who could have known about what she kept in her backpack, about her health problems?'

'Everyone knows about it, everyone in the church, everyone in school...oh who could have wanted to do this to her?' Mrs Balfour sinks to her knees with her head in her hands, silently sobbing.

[Mr. Handy]

"We'll do everything we can to find her," Jocelyn assures her. She was already sure that the kidnappers knew about the insulin, which is why one of them had gone back for the backpack. This seemed to indicate that whoever was behind the kidnapping was local. If they cared about keeping Regina alive, they would try to obtain some from another source. If they cared. "We have the medicine, so as soon as we find her we can get it to her. Would you be willing to make an appeal to the kidnappers to release your daughter on video that we can put on television and the Internet? I don't know if it will be effective, but it's worth a try."

[Mephistophilis]

Sarah Balfour looks conflicted for a second, 'I...I don't know, I mean, I'd have to talk to John but we'll do whatever you think would be helpful.'

'I think that's something we can revisit tomorrow Mrs Balfour, perhaps you could discuss it with your husband?' says DS Bates.

'I think that's probably enough for tonight, unless you have anything else you'd like to ask?' she says, glancing at Jocelyn.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, that's enough for now," says Jocelyn. "Thank you, Mrs. Balfour, you've been a great help. If you think of anything, don't hesitate to call." She hands Sarah her card, which has her mobile phone number on it.

[Mephistophilis]

Jocelyn and Lucy Bates leave Sarah Balfour with the family liaison officer to wait for her husband.

DC Burke approaches DS Bates with a broad smile on his face and hands her a printout, it looks like a photograph. 'Just got a call from the Met. We have positive ID on the dead guy. Detective Inspector George Lewiston, former SO12 Metropolitan Police Special Branch officer. Expertise in domestic extremism, retired a few years ago but did some consulting work still.' Bates studies the picture and then hands it to Jocelyn.



Jocelyn feels a sinking feeling in her stomach, George Lewiston, the name is familiar, she's never met him herself but she has certainly heard of him.

[Mr. Handy]

"Oh, bloody hell," mutters Jocelyn. "I've never met the chap, but I've heard of him. We need to find out who he was working with, particularly anyone female, as the driver of the Astra was. Any contacts of his, anyone he was close to on the Met. Let's check the police database. I'll give Giles Munro a call, see what MI5 knows about him." She takes out her mobile and dials.

[Mephistophilis]

Giles Munro answers, 'Jocelyn, sweetie, it's very late, how's that unpleasantness in Buckinghamshire working out?'

Jocelyn tells him about George Lewiston.

'Lewiston eh? Met him once, good man. Retired years ago, did a bit of consulting work on the side, rightwing extremism, domestic terrorism, that sort of thing.

Look Jocelyn, darling, I'll try and look a bit further into it but this smells funny, Lewiston is not the sort of man to do something without good reason.'

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,We're moving to a new thread [url]https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?f=469&t=7126[/url]