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.”

'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.

“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.

'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?'

”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.

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

’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?”

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]

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?'

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?”

'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

"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!

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?'

”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?”

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.'

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?”

'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.

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.

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.'

”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?”

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

"Can you give us a time around when he started to grow distant?" Simon asks.

Nicole thinks, 'I'm not particularly close to Lindsay, we probably haven't talked in the phone for a month or so, maybe we exchanged emails a few weeks ago.'

'As for when dad became more distant, maybe I've overemphasised it, but we just haven't talked as much the last few weeks and I haven't heard from him the last few days.'

OOC,Something to be aware of, it is around 4am, if you don't get more than 4hrs sleep each night you will experience penalties that will persist until you sleep more than 8hrs. Of course you might want to take the risk in this critical first 24hrs but you could also handover some tasks to other police officers. If you are going to sleep Simon and Jocelyn will need to find a hotel.

Kris glanced at his watch and stifled a yawn. ”Did Lindsay raise any concerns about your father?” he asked.

Kris looked at the others to see if they had any further questions.

Simon subtly shakes his head.

ooc,I think I'd like Simon to start reading the religious text before bed to see if he can glean anything. Of course this does mean he'll likely have to sleep in for a bit, which may make it unfeasable. I suppose he can just start reading it in the car to and fro.

"I have no more questions at this time," says Jocelyn. "Thank you for your help, Mrs. Brown."

OOC,I'd like to get some sleep. There's a limit to how long caffeine can keep you going.

Kris thanked Nicole Brown for her time, commiserating her again on the loss of her father and asking her to get in touch if anything else occurred to her that might be useful.

He lead the others out to the car. He glanced at his watch and said, “The niece and the cafe. The latter won’t be open for a few hours but we could go see the niece now?”

OOC,22 miles to Aylesbury. Get a local car to go?

"Yes, let's go see her now," says Jocelyn. "I can keep going at least that long."

"As can I. Meanwhile, I'll get a start on this text Balfour wrote, see if I can gleam anything Lewiston found important in it."

Outside the Browns' house, DS Bates says 'I'm heading back to the station to brief DI Marlow; PC Holmes will drive me and we'll sort out that cat.'

She looks directly at Kris, 'Careful with this Lindsay Peale, we don't have any evidence she's involved and we don't have a search warrant, by the book okay?'

As she walks off she says 'I'll be on the phone, stay off the radio'.

OOC,Okay, so we'll head up to Aylesbury, less than 30mins away. I'll assume you'll be going in the same cars, Burke will go with the AFOs, are you going full 'blues and twos' (lights and sirens), just lights, or neither on the marked car? I'll presume the marked car is in front unless you say otherwise. Kris is driving, where are Simon and Jocelyn sat in the car? Simon, give me an English roll to start the book

Jocelyn will offer to ride shotgun, and she recommends that lights and sirens be turned off before they get close to the house.

Simon sits in back, and begins to read the book.

English 94%,[dice]0[/dice]

Kris drives slowly away from Nicole Brown’s but once he’s out into open countryside, he picks up speed. The roads are quiet and he’s driven them many times and the blue lights are on warn anyone of their approach.

He checks his mirror to make sure Burke and the AFOs are on his tail, then looks around at the fields, blue-strobe lit in the darkness. Looking back to the road, he said to Jocelyn and Simon, ”So, what do you think is behind this? It seems strange that a kidnapper would snatch a child, then kill himself after she was handed over. Almost as if he wasn’t in control of his actions...”

"Maybe he was brainwashed," suggests Jocelyn. "He's apparently spent the last few years infiltrating the Church of the Passover Angel, which sure looks like an apocalyptic cult to me. Some of that indoctrination had to have rubbed off on him. Still, Balfour founded and runs it, so I doubt he wanted Lewiston to abduct his daughter. Lewiston seemed to still have been following his self-appointed mission, whatever that was."

Simon notes the missing passage. He makes a note to research it further, gain an understanding of interpretations of it. That could explain what Balfour was omitting from his particular cult.

"Hmm?" He says, barely hearing the question. "Oh, I don't know about control, so to speak. He attempted to take the backpack, as well as had supplies to care for the girl for some time, suggesting in his own way he was concerned for her. Fanatical approach, of course. Perhaps he saw the Balfours as abusive in some way, though I did not get that impression in my brief conversation with John Balfour. Someone should consult with his former colleagues, learn if he ever spoke of the church or an enmity towards it.

"We also have to consider why he did not run when he had the chance; that is what troubles me about all of this. He went to all the trouble of hiding his identity; he had to know we'd be able to identify him sooner or later. He had to have enough tactical knowledge to understand it was better to flee. Did he perhaps possess some degree of self loathing and want to die? As for his co conspirator, indoctrinating someone else can be a tricky process. Perhaps she belonged to the church as well. Too early to say I'm afraid."

The A4010 is an unlit rural road, quite uneven, winding in an undulating route over hills and dips. Kris presses on in the dark, headlights illuminating a small patch of road in front.

Simon is reading in the back with the light on, there is no moon or stars visible in the night sky. The darkness presses in around the car. The blue lights of the ARV just visible through the rear window.

Kris blinks...

Kris,Roll Drive Auto

A shape looms out of the darkness, two bright eyes. Kris yanks the steering wheel to swerve and slams on the brakes. But he feels the impact, the front of the car strikes the bulky shadow with a sickening thud, the bodywork making a corresponding crunch and one of the headlights goes out.

Kris and his passengers strain against their seatbelts, their heads flick forwards, a small bang and the front airbags rapidly inflate.

OOC,Everyone roll CON

A light rain starts to fall as the car sits silently. The engine stalled. A single headlamp beam highlighting the rain, no movement visible.

Then through the soft patter of the raindrops a noise starts, a low pitched whining

OOC,CON (70%) - [dice]0[/dice]

Kris coughed as he pushed the deflating airbag away. ”Shit - that came out of nowhere!” he said. “Are you both ok?”

"I'm fine, thanks," says Jocelyn, digging herself out from behind her airbag. "Maybe I should drive. What was it, a deer? I didn't see."

OOC,CON x 5 roll (65% stat) from the crash: [dice]0[/dice]

Con 60,[dice]0[/dice]

"Just a bit bumped up," Simon admits, picking the book up off the floor. "Though please try and be more careful."

"What's that noise?"

”It wasn’t through lack of care!” snapped Kris, irked that his execrable driving skills were being called into question!

He pulled a torch out of the glove box and pushed open the car door to see what he had hit.

In the light of his torch Kris can just about make a large shape sitting in the middle of the road, a low whining sound emanates from nearby.

There is a squealing of tyres as the ARV crests the hill behind the unmarked car, coming to a stop in a cloud of smoke. It sits in the dark, blue lights flashing.

Kris's phone rings, it's Burke, 'You alright? What's going on?'

Before answering Kris approaches closer, he can see it is some kind of animal, maybe a cow. It seems to be injured with what may well be blood trickling from its mouth. It looks him in the face and emits an anguished wail before its head slumps to the ground unmoving.

Up close, Kris can see the rest of its body is oddly misshapen, great welts and boils ooze and weep across the surface of its hide.

Kris,Roll sanity, 0/1 loss

There is a foul smell emanating from the creature, something between rotten meat and a sweeter, more acrid odour. Kris gags.

Kris swallowed hard as his torch beam played across the animal in front of him. His head spun and for a moment he thought he was going to throw up.

He looked away and heard Burke asking for an update. He glanced back at the creature, and shuddered. “I think it’s a cow,” he said weakly. “Bring the car up for a better look.”

The ARV drives slowly past the unmarked car, blue lights still flashing, and parks on the other side of the road, headlamps providing additional illumination of the animal. With the extra light Kris can see it is clearly a cow, a bit thinner than he would expect and covered in boils and sores. Probably some kind of infection. As far as Kris can see it looks dead.

Burke climbs out the ARV, looks at the animal, and laughs, 'You killed it you spanner, Bates is gonna go spare when she hears what you've done to the car'.

He puts in a call on the radio back to the control room to get someone to come and clear off the road. 'We'll wait here for the patrol car, you go to this Lindsay Peale's house and we'll meet you there'.

”Dickhead!” muttered Kris as he stomped back to his car. He examined the headlight and the wing carefully with a scowl on his face. Burke was unfortunately right, DS Bates wasn’t going to be impressed!

He got back behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. Without saying a word, he started the engine and drove away, more carefully and slowly this time...