IC - 8 - The Daughter - Everyone

[Mephistophilis]

'Yes, of course, come in.' Nicole Brown leads Kris and Burke into the living room and invites them to sit down. The armed officer remains outside. 'Richard, can you check in on the children,' her husband climbs back up the stairs, 'Just shout if you need me.'

Nicole looks nervous, 'What's all this about?'

OOC,Does Kris want to invite the others back from the rear of the house or update them on what's going on? A successful Listen roll and Jocelyn or Simon can hear Kris being invited in.

[Philulhu]

“Mrs Brown, if it is ok with you, I’d like to bring in some of my colleagues who are working with me on this case,” said Kris.

He turned to Burke. “Can you ask DS Bates, Miss Leigh and Dr Eagleton to join me?” The ‘me’ was obvious; Burke was to wait outside once the others had joined Kris inside.

OOC,I’ve assumed Mrs Brown won’t have an objection.

[Mephistophilis]

'Of course officer' accedes Nicole Brown.

The others join Kris and Burke waits outside, Kris can practically feel him pouting and Simon notices Burke glaring at him as he walks past, he hands him the cat with a smile.

Nicole Brown looks to be in her early thirties. She is fairly short and dark haired. Currently she is wearing a kimono-style dressing gown pulled around a silk nightie. She is well spoken and looks a bit confused and a little scared.

'Look, Constable Sapru was it? What is going on here, what does this have to do with me, why do I have you all in my house in the middle of the night?'

[Philulhu]

”Please sit down, Miss Brown,” said Kris. This was part of the job he hated, but there was no other way.

“Was your father George Lewiston?” he asked.

[Mephistophilis]

'My father is George Lewiston' she says, then, after the briefest of pauses she gasps and puts her hands to her mouth.

[Philulhu]

’Shiiiitttt....’ thought Kris. He’d screwed that up...

Flushing with embarrassment at his faux pas, he said, “I’m really sorry, but your father died earlier today. He was involved in the kidnapping - had you heard from him recently?”

[Silver Priest]

Simon studies her carefully, but he's already pretty sure she's telling the truth. Which meant that there most promising lead had turned out to be a dead end. Still, he avoids being too frustrated; she might still know something useful.

Psychology 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mephistophilis]

Simon,Simon can tell this woman had no idea her father was dead until Kris dropped the bombshell

Nicole Brown's words come spilling out, 'But dad's retired, why would he be involved in the kidnapping? And he worked for the Met, not Thames Valley. What happened to him? How come they didn't mention him on the radio, only the kidnapper?'

[Philulhu]

Kris tried to keep his voice even. “That’s what we’re trying to find out,” he said. He glanced at DS Bates and continued. “It seems your father kidnapped the child and handed her over to an accomplice, then returned to the shopping centre, where he was killed.”

He leaned forward, as if taking Nicole into his confidence. “I appreciate that you’re in shock, given the news you’ve just had, but we need to find the missing girl, so when did you last have any contact with your father and how did he seem to you?”

[Mephistophilis]

'I talked to him a few days ago, he was fine.' Her face hardens, 'There is simply no way he could have done such a thing, you're mistaken, he was a police officer for more than thirty years. It makes no sense.' Nicole folds her arms across her chest and takes on a sullen look, although she is probably in shock from the news of her father's death.

OOC,I'm going to need some kind of social skill check to get her to open up and some dialogue to go with it - I'll determine difficulty based on the quality of the arguments

[Mr. Handy]

"Please try to think, Mrs. Brown," says Jocelyn. "I know you're hurting, but think of that little girl. Not only is she terrified, but her life is in danger. She's diabetic, and the kidnappers didn't manage to get her backpack which has her medicine. We have it, but we have to find her in order to get it to her before it's too late. Time is running out, and every second counts!"

OOC,Persuade roll (60% skill) to convince [b]Nicole[/b] to open up to us: [dice]0[/dice] Wow! :o Extreme success!

[Mephistophilis]

Nicole sighs and her body sags, 'Look, I'll tell you what I can but I really don't know anything. Dad's been a little more distant lately but not markedly so, maybe he was helping out with a case?'

She continues, 'He worked for the Met for over thirty years, Special Branch, he's been retired for a few years now but I know he still does some consulting work now and again. He specialised in rightwing extremism. He's got a house here in Wycombe. I've got no idea how he could have been caught up in this, perhaps he was undercover somehow?'

[Philulhu]

”We don’t know that yet,” said Kris. “That’s one of the lines of investigation that we will be following up.”

“You mentioned the possibility that your father was working with someone? He appeared to have an accomplice who was driving a white car - a car registered in your name?”

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,The numberplate on the abductor's car was registered to a scrapped vehicle. The PNC confirmed that Nicole Brown has a car registered to this address, but it is a Citroen which is sitting out the front, not the getaway car, which is a Vauxhall

'I don't have a white car, mine is parked out the front along with Richard's. I'm afraid I don't know much about the people my dad worked with, maybe the Met could help?'

Nicole thinks for a moment, 'He didn't have many friends, maybe a few guys from work, and he didn't have many hobbies really, he would come and visit us every few days or weeks, he was always good with the children. But I don't know much about what he did when he wasn't with us, he played guitar, that's about it. He used to be close to my cousin Lindsay after her dad died, but I don't think they've seen each other for years. He and mum didn't speak and she died of breast cancer a few years ago. He used to go climbing and clay pigeon shooting but that was a long time ago.'

[Philulhu]

OOC,I knew I should have read back through the threads and checked...

Kris smiled awkwardly as she talked about her car but perked up when she started talking about her cousin. ”Do you have a name and address for Lindsay?” he asked. “And a photograph?”

[Mephistophilis]

'Lindsay has nothing to do with this!' exclaims Nicole. Seeing Kris's expression she says 'oh, fine, her name is Lindsay Peale, she lives in Aylesbury.' She looks around the room and eventually finds a photograph and shows it. It reveals a young blonde woman, probably in her late twenties in this photo.

[Philulhu]

Kris thanked Nicole and took the photo, making a note of Lindsay’s address.

”Do you have contact details for any of your father’s friends?” he asked.

[Mephistophilis]

Nicole has a blank expression, 'I'm sorry I only know first names, Steve and Ben from work, I don't think that will be much use to you He also used to like hanging out in that café, the 'Happy Cafe' near his house.'

She looks concerned, 'Are you going to go and talk to Lindsay now? I'd better let her know you're coming.'

[Philulhu]

”I’d rather you didn’t. We’ll go and see her and explain the situation,” said Kris, quickly.

He looked to the others. “Does anyone else have any questions?”

[Mr. Handy]

"When is the last time you spoke to Lindsay?" Jocelyn asks Nicole.