Play@YSDC

3am Friday 12th March 2010, Piddington, Buckinghamshire

Eight and a half hours since Regina Balfour was abducted.

The three cars arrive outside a 1930s semi-detached house in the village of Piddington, around ten minutes from High Wycombe on the A40 towards Oxford.

This is the address for Nicole Brown control obtained from her mobile phone number. The property looks well maintained with clean white render, neat hedging, and a block paved driveway. There are two cars out the front, a Mercedes saloon and a Citroën MPV. Both cars have 2010 plates. All the windows are dark except for a small frosted pane upstairs that might be a bathroom.

DS Bates phones DC Sapru's mobile phone from the other car, 'Phones only, okay, so how are we going to approach this?'

There are three cars. One armed response vehicle with two authorised firearms officers in uniform. One marked police patrol car with DS Bates, DC Burke, and PC Holmes, currently DC Burke is carrying the cat as only Holmes is allowed to drive the patrol car. Finally there is an unmarked CID car driven by DC Sapru with Dr Eagleton and Officer Leigh.

OOC,There is also the option to call for further backup, a car with two more uniformed officers could come pretty quickly, a specialist firearms officer unit trained in sieges and counter-terrorism would take a fair bit longer

Kris studied the house from his car. ”I’ll take Burke and one of the AFO’s to the front door, if you take Holmes and the other AFO around the back,” he said to DS Bates. “Dr. Eagleton and Miss Leigh better wait in the car until we know it’s safe.”

“We’ll try the door, announce ourselves and then use the enforcer, if necessary. You go in the back at the same time. How does that sound?”

"No objections on my end to waiting in the car," Simon says, after pragmatic. "However if Ms. Brown proves unwilling to cooperate I may be of assistance, so do not hesitate to call me in if necessary."

"I've actually received firearms training," says Jocelyn. "I also have experience with hostage negotiations. If the armed response team has a spare handgun for me, I can help breach the house."

'This is Buckinghamshire, not the Bronx!' interjects Bates. 'Let's not jump to storming the building just yet. If it comes to a siege I'll call in the Specialist Firearms Unit and see if the Chief Inspector will authorise Miss Leigh to carry a gun, purely for her own protection.'

Everyone except for Simon exits their vehicles. The AFOs retrieve their H&K MP5s from the rear of their car. Burke walks over to Kris's car, knocks on the window, and hands Simon the cat, 'All got our role to play' he sneers.

DS Bates creeps past the front of the house to a side gate, she reaches over and unlatches it.

Bates Stealth 40%,[dice]0[/dice]

She gestures for Holmes, Jocelyn, and one of the AFOs to join her and they slowly walk towards the rear of the property. Rounding the building they see a long well maintained garden with a mixture of manicured lawn and ornamental flower beds. Through white painted French doors they can see the rear of the house is one large kitchen/dining room.

While Simon remains in the car trying to prevent the cat from scratching up the upholstery, Burke and the other AFO join Kris by the front door which is set in an extended porch to the right of a bay window.

---

A light flicks on in an upstairs window and then through the glass panel of the front door Kris can see the landing light come on at the top of the stairs.

”Here goes,” said Kris quietly, trying not to show his apprehension. He started when the light came on and he was partially caught in the glare.

”Are you sure this is right address, Lucy?” he hissed into his phone. “This just doesn’t feel right!”

'Look, this is the address we got off that phone, PNC confirms a Nicole Brown with a vehicle registered to this address' whispers Bates.

'All clear back here, you going to knock?'

Jocelyn moves quietly into position and watches the house.

OOC,Stealth roll (60% skill) going behind the house: [dice]0[/dice]

Simon sniffs and takes the cat reluctantly, not much of a fan of even the healthy specimens. He watches the action go down, hopeful that it will be uneventful. And that he can get this mangy thing away from him shortly.

Kris stepped to one side where he could still see inside the house but where he wasn’t too obvious to anyone who may be waiting inside with a shotgun...

He reached over and rapped firmly on the door. ”Thames Valley Police! Open the door!”

More lights come on, they can be seen at both the front and the back of the house. This is followed by footsteps on the stairs and a figure visible through the frosted glass.

There is the sound of locks and bolts being undone and the door slowly opens to reveal a powerfully built blonde man in his early forties, he is wearing a dressing gown. Behind him at the top of the stairs Kris can see a dark haired women and two blonde children peaking around the corner of the landing.

The man's face is one of annoyance until he sees the armed officer when his look is replaced by surprise,
'What is going in?'

Kris held out his warrant card for inspection. “Detective Constable Sapru, Sir. From Thames Valley CID. We’re investigating a kidnapping. Do you have a Nicole Brown, possibly also known as Nicole Lewiston, living here?”

The man takes Kris's warrant card for a second and looks it over. 'I'm Richard Brown, Nicole is my wife'. He turns to the stairs and shouts 'Nicky, this gentleman thinks you might know something about a kidnapping'.

The woman descends the stairs looking worried, 'is this about that little girl on the news, the one from the Eden Centre?'

Her demeanour wasn’t what Kris was expecting. ”May we step inside, please?” he asked. “I’m sure you’d prefer that wasn’t played out in front of your neighbours.”