IC - 9 - The Niece - Everyone

[Mephistophilis]

Sheepishly he says 'I gave her a call when I saw you guys outside, it says her mobile phone is out of service. I've sent her an email but nothing's come back, she's probably away somewhere and asleep if she's not in her flat. As to where she might go, I'm not sure.'

[Philulhu]

OOC,Did that count as a successful Intimidate roll for Kris for experience purposes? If so, is just Intimidate I can mark off or Persuade as well?

”Can you think of anywhere she might have mentioned?” persisted Kris. “The missing girl’s life may depend upon it!”

[Mephistophilis]

Kris,That's a successful Intimidate but you can have Persuade as well, I've treated it like two separate rolls

'I understand, alright, I just don't know where she'd go! Look, I don't know what you've heard but Lindsay is a nice girl, she's a social worker for fuck's sake, she isn't going to hurt a child.'

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe not intentionally," says Jocelyn. "She may think she has the best interests of the child at heart, but she's mistaken. The little girl is diabetic, and when she was snatched, the kidnappers did not get her insulin. We need to get it to her fast, or she'll die."

[Mephistophilis]

Simon,Would Simon have taken the chance to read more of the book? If so roll another English - try and get a hard (under half the skill) success

The man from Flat 6 puts his hands up, 'Look, I don't know any more, what do you want me to say?'

OOC,Anything else you guys want to do before Bates arrives? You could wake up some neighbours if you'd like. Or you could phone through to the station and get the morning shift to chase down some leads for you

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn thanks the man and lets him go. She suggests to Kris that they have the station check with the Land Registry to find out what properties either Lewiston or Lindsay Peale own or lease.

[Philulhu]

”Oh, one more thing...” said Kris, turning back Columbo-style, “Do you have a spare key for Lindsay’s flat? We’re getting a warrant so it will save us breaking down the door and help us find that scared little girl that much quicker.”

[Mephistophilis]

The officers back at the station can't find any evidence that either Lindsay Peale or George Lewiston owned any properties other than their main residences that you know about. They do confirm Lindsay is the registered keeper of a white Vauxhall Astra and the traffic team is trying to track it down.

Kris,That'd be a Luck roll

[Silver Priest]

Eng 94%,[dice]0[/dice] That's a hard.

Simon is engrossed in the book once again, leaving the interview and the like to his colleagues who are more trained in such matters. He doubts there are many clues to be found here anymore anyway; the kidnappers had been rather skilled at covering their tracks so far.

[Philulhu]

OOC,Luck (50%) - [dice]0[/dice]

[Mephistophilis]

The man in Flat 4 sheepishly hands over a key.

Simon,[b]Simon[/b] makes short work of skimming the rest of [i]The Book of the Passover Angel[/i]. He has already read the first two chapters, word for word reprints of the King James versions of the books of Genesis and Exodus as far as he can tell, except minus Exodus 11:6 about how the outcry of woe from the death of the firstborn will not ever be repeated. The third chapter is called the [i]'Kenyan Revelations'[/i], and is authored by the [b]Reverend John Balfour[/b]. This chapter is short and concerns his time performing a youth mission in the interior of Kenya. He is vague about exactly where in Kenya he went, but it was clearly somewhere quite remote. He encountered a [b]'wise prophet of the Lord'[/b] there who claimed that the Apocalypse of John was false and unreliable, and that the end of the world would be visited by God upon mankind in some way that was consistent with both history and the laws of science. She then explained that the Ten Plagues of Egypt would be how God would purge the wicked: they are all natural disasters that could follow from a volcanic cataclysm and ensuing distortion of weather patterns, and God had purged the world of wickedness in this way before. The [b]wise prophet[/b] openly challenges the interpretation of Exodus 11:6 that the plagues of Egypt were a one-time event, and promises that when the time comes, the Lord, acting through his [b]Passover Angel[/b], will purge the wicked in the same way. He talks about 'taking in' the spirit of the angel while in Kenya. [b]Balfour[/b] even cites some scientific papers on this topic, including [list][i]The Plagues of Egypt: Archaeology, History, and Science Look at the Bible[/i], by Siro Igino Trevisanato, Georgia Press LLC, 2005 Marr J.S., Malloy C.D., [i]An epidemiologic analysis of the ten plagues of Egypt[/i], Caduceus, (Springfield), Ill., 1996 Spring; 12(1):7–24.[/list] The fourth chapter is a set of bizarre drawings, set forth as an appendix to the [i]Kenyan Revelations[/i]. There are star charts, Enochian occult drawings, incomprehensible diagrams depicting thaumaturgical triangles, magic circles, and the like, and complicated mathematical formulae, all without any sort of prose explanation. Further study of chapter four is likely to take weeks, if it is even possible to understand. [b]Simon[/b] can attempt a hard Psychoanalysis (under half the skill) or extreme (under one fifth) Psychology roll to get a sense of the author, [b]John Balfour[/b], and what he was trying to achieve in the book. In addition, [b]Simon[/b] is now pretty certain that there is some kind of code. Studying the typesetting of the text itself shows a sequence of twenty six numbers hidden in variant characters.

[Silver Priest]

"Utterly fascinating," Simon pipes up. "Mind it's utter rubbish, the ramblings of a madman, but fascinating as well."

"Balfour seems to believe the plagues of Egypt will be repeated, in contrast to most interpretations of Christianity I am familiar with. He mentions this prophet of the Lord he met in Kenya,a woman oddly enough; unusual for these types. Claims to have seen the angel, though surely metaphorical. Perhaps he was on some sort of religious trip involving intoxicants, fairly common, if less so amongst Christians. Cites a few papers as well apparently supporting his view that may be worth seeking out.

"Then things get really weird. Esoteric drawings, occult symbology, star charts... even for a mind as sharp as my own, it could take me a few weeks to decipher it. There's some sort of code, as well. I've noticed 26 numbers hidden within various characters in the typesetting. That's another thing to explore.

"Of course, none of this assists us in finding Regina, specifically." He reluctantly admits. "But it's a truly interesting little sect. Doomed to obscurity-- its teachings are far too heretical, but intriguing nonetheless."

Psychoanalysis Hard 26%,[dice]0[/dice] I feel like Simon would push this if possible. He's the type to jump to the wrong conclusion rather than admit he does not know. So against all judgement, if possible I will push. [dice]1[/dice] Oh boy.

[Philulhu]

”Thanks,” said Kris dryly, as he took the key. He pulled out his card with his contact details and handed it over. “If you hear from Lindsay, let me know. Oh, and one of my colleagues might call to ask you some more questions, so don’t go anywhere.”

He turned away, pulling out his phone and calling DS Bates. When she answered, he said, “Lucy? We’ve got a key from one of the neighbours, so we’re going into the flat for a a look around.” As he spoke, he put the key in the door and carefully pushed it open...

[Mephistophilis]

Trying to maximise his light in the early morning gloom, Simon takes the book and holds it under one of the street lamps to try and better illuminate the text. There's something odd about the narrative, like Balfour was conflicted in what he was saying but Simon can't quite piece together what that might mean. The wind stirs and a few drops of rain fall from the street lamp onto the book, dissolving some of the cheap print into pools of smudged ink.

Simon,That rain has damaged some of the book and obscured the last few numbers from the code sequence

Kris opens the door into Lindsay's apartment. Moving through the hallway into the kitchen on the right the air is thick with flies, like something died in here...or someone.

Quickly walking through the house Kris doesn't see anything of major interest, no spoiled food, no signs of pets, no computer or mobile phone evident.

In the living room there is a landline with a digital answerphone which is flashing. On the wall is a framed picture showing a young Lindsay, probably in her late teens, winning some kind of medal for clay pigeon shooting.

[Philulhu]

Kris paused, his eyes moving around the room, taking it all in. He stepped forward, keeping a lookout on the doors that lead further into the flat, and pressed the ‘play’ button on the answerphone...

[Mephistophilis]

The first message is from someone calling themselves Roxanna around midday Thursday. She is asking Lindsay why she isn't in work. This is followed by several more messages wondering where the hell she is and complaining that she is not answering her mobile phone.

[Philulhu]

OOC,The second voice - gender? Age? Anything specific about the tone or any noises in the background? Listen (35%) - [dice]0[/dice] Can I spend three points of Luck?

[Mephistophilis]

Philhu,Sure spend the Luck

The voice of Roxanna is definitely female, at a guess Kris would say middle aged. Middle class accent, probably greater London area. She seems pretty pissed off with Lindsay and not concerned about her. She mentions something about this being her last chance 'after last time'. In the background he can hear a bustling office environment with various voices and phones ringing.

The other messages are all from her except a brief message around 3pm spoken in hushed tones saying she is in trouble and needs to give Roxanna a call as soon as possible. This is a younger woman but she doesn't give a name. It is probably coming from the same office based on the background noise.

[Philulhu]

Kris waited until the end of the calls to see if the numbers called from had been recorded.

[Silver Priest]

"NO!" Simon screams, probably waking half the tenets. He desperately tries to reconstruct the text, but it seems worthless. "Bloody Hell!" As he loses his temper, his working class routes come out from his otherwise post accent. It's another reason he hates to lose his temper. After a moment, he takes a breath and forces himself to think.

I need to get another one of these. Hopefully Lindsay has one in her flat. If not, I'll need to ask Reverend Balfour, find a way to convince him it's related to the case. There's something here that I'm missing.