6.30pm Thursday 11th March 2010, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.
A five-year old girl, Regina Balfour, is kidnapped in broad daylight from the Eden Shopping Centre, while her mother’s back is momentarily turned. Left behind is her ladybird shaped backpack, which contained supplies for her insulin pump. She needs her medication to live more than a few days, and her condition will rapidly deteriorate without it...
After returning to the hotel Simon and Jocelyn grab a late meal.
Jocelyn,Back in her room, [b]Jocelyn[/b] changes for bed but struggles to settle, her arms and chest are itchy and irritated. Eventually she falls into a fitful sleep.
Simon,Back in his room, [b]Simon[/b] changes for bed but struggles to settle, his arms and chest are itchy and irritated. Eventually he falls into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning from side to side.
[i]The branch feels firm under him but [b]Simon[/b] clings to the trunk, afraid to fall. Dappled light filters through the tree's foliage. The sky gradually darkens and in the fading light he sees figures below. Snatches of words he doesn't understand, [color=#0000FF]'Narlato wagh'nagl iszkur boret.'[/color] He can make out one of the figures, a man, a familiar man. [b]John Balfour[/b]. [b]Balfour[/b] looks up through the branches, his face twisted, in anger or anguish. [b]Simon[/b] draws as close to the trunk as he can, avoiding the baleful gaze. But [b]Balfour[/b] sees him through the foliage, reaching out it seems like he is right beside [b]Simon[/b]. The rough touch of a hand against his arm. [b]Balfour[/b] staring him in the face, [color=#0000FF]'Help me!'[/color][/i]
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/fR4Hv68D/15-DAMSON-ADEWALE-MECH-WEB-02-resize-32.jpg[/img]
7.30am Saturday 13th March 2010, Holiday Inn, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Thirty seven hours since Regina Balfour was abducted.
Jocelyn,Waking with her alarm, [b]Jocelyn[/b] feels groggy and her arms, chest, and back are burning. She sees red excoriations across her forearms and feels little bumps across the skin of her chest. Sitting up in the hotel bed she sees a Gideon Bible lying on the covers. The window is open, curtains billowing in the wind. [b]Jocelyn[/b] is sure she shut it before she went to sleep. Lifting the Bible, [b]Jocelyn[/b] notices the ribbon is marking Exodus 11-12. She quickly draws the curtains and looks out the window but sees nothing untoward.
Entering the bathroom she looks herself over in the mirror. Her arms and chest are red, in places there are itchy raised welts, a few leaking a yellowy discharge that forms crusts on the skin.
She cleans herself up as best she can and dresses for the day.
Jocelyn,Jocelyn is shaken by her discoveries this morning, roll Sanity 0/1
Simon,Waking with his alarm, [b]Simon[/b] feels groggy and his arms, chest, and back are burning. He sees red excoriations across his forearms and feels little bumps across the skin of his chest.
Entering the bathroom he looks himself over in the mirror. His arms and chest are red, in places there are itchy raised welts, a few leaking a yellowy discharge that forms crusts on the skin.
He cleans himself up as best he can and dresses for the day. Checking his email he finds a reply from [b]Rose Madawa[/b]. It consists of a single number: '254-20-318262'.
Simon,Roll Sanity 1/1d4 for the events of the night
"Someone was in my room last night," says Jocelyn. "Whoever it was opened the window and left it that way and put the Gideon Bible on my bed with the ribbon on Exodus 11-12. My skin is also getting a lot worse."
Simon wakes with a start, drenched in sweat. Another dream. It felt so vivid. Intellectually he knew it was simple enough; projection based off his belief. John Balfour seemed in danger and needing help in the dream because Simon had cracked his code and revealed the conflict he felt in fulfilling the work he felt called to do. To think anything else was absurd, never mind their being anything supernatural about all of this. He tells himself forcefully to get it together, but he can't escape the creeping thoughts that there's something more to this. He chides himself for believing in this foolishness for even a minute, but he notices his hands are slightly shaking.
There also remained the question of the words Balfour had used during the dream. Likely nonsensical projection, but Simon writes them down regardless, attempting to spell them phonetically.
He is greatly disturbed by this damn itch he seems to have developed, though at least this too had a rational explanation; something must have infected him and the others at Lewiston's. If nothing else this seemed to confirm their theory that Balfour was meddling with some sort of chemical weapon. Maybe the police would believe them now, but it remained unlikely; as of yet there was no clear connection.
The number was at least good news, and he pockets it for later.
He meets with Jocelyn, sipping a cup of coffee this morning-- he felt he needed the extra energy.
"You do realize that sounds absurd? Someone entering your room to offer you cryptic Biblical inspiration? Worst of all is that I'm starting to think someone was crazy enough to do it." He irritatingly admits. "I had another dream. Surely a projection, but Balfour was asking me to save him. Chap did not strike me as needing saving, but if he's as guilt ridden concerning whatever he's planning as I suspect, it may be worst pursuing." He idly scratches himself and hisses in pain. "I agree with the itching. Seems safe to say we were infected with something at Lewiston's house and it is getting worse. We should consider checking if the rest of the officers there were similarly afflicted. We'll likely need medical treatment, though I find myself too intrigued by this case to deal with that until we've solved this. We may be the only ones that can.
He takes a sip of his drink; nector of the gods.
"Lastly, I managed to find scarcely anything on Red Trumpet, but a fringe blogger did mention them a few times. I emailed her and got her number. Perhaps we call her after breakfast? Let's see, they're 3 hours ahead of us I believe, she should be up. "
"There's also Kris. We should contact him and see what's up."
Kris laughed, a short dry laugh devoid of humour. ”You obviously haven’t heard the news! I got a bollocking from the DI this morning and I’m off the case. I’m on my way to Oxford to investigate a burglary...” He sighed.
“I don’t think it would be wise to meet up at the moment. I’ve been told to stay away so if we’re spotted together, then I will, in all likelihood, lose my job.Kris sighed again.
“All that said, Balfour’s clearly up to something and I want to nail him for it. I think it has something to do with the story of the Passover. I think he’s up to something that will kill the every firstborn child and I think Lindsay took Regina to make sure they couldn’t go through with their plans without putting her at risk.”
"I hope that's not possible," says Jocelyn if Simon puts the call on speaker. "I'm not the firstborn in my family, but I don't want anything to happen to my older sister. Whatever the Balfours had planned to protect Regina, it must be the equivalent of putting the blood of an umblemished lamb on the doorposts and lintel of the house. That's what God had the children of Israel do so that the plague would pass over them and only affect the Egyptians. That's where the name 'Passover' originates. I'm just wondering if they're so far gone that they'll go through with their plans anyway even if they don't have Regina back. There's something you need to know. Someone was in my room last night. Whoever it was opened my window and left it that way, and also left the Gideon Bible on my bed with the ribbon on Exodus 11-12. My skin condition's also gotten worse. That must be the plague of boils."
"I am a first born. Younger sister. I also agree he's planning something along these lines. I think it's exceptionally unlikely Balfour could engineer some sort of bio weapon that could target only first born sons or what have you, but he may not care; if he can infect a large swath of the populace he'll likely succeed in whatever message he's trying to get out.
He frowns as Jocelyn continues speaking. "Let's not start that nonsense again, please. Balfour is a religious zealot who believes he's doing the work of God; there's no reason to think he has any supernatural ability to smite us. If he had, I suspect the good detective would have experienced it yesterday." He smirks. "That aside, we've likely all been infected with the bio weapon when we were in Lewiston's house, we may wish to see if everyone else experienced similar symptoms. I was also telling Jocelyn that I found a lead; a Kenyan blogger mentioned Red Trumpet on her blog, and she gave me her number. After we're done with this call I'll contact her and ask if she can tell us anything useful.
"Stay safe," He tells Kris. "It's likely you should keep your head down. I'll contact you if this source can tell us anything about Red Trumpet using similar tactics over in Kenya . I imagine we'll also be continuing to look for Regina Balfour; perhaps we'll get lucky and find a break in the case." He says.
”Well, however he’s going to do it, I think he’s planning something,” replied Kris. ”Jocelyn - I don’t suppose you could get his phone monitored, could you? These people tend to keep their cards close to their chest, but hearing what he’s saying might give us a lead.”
"I can ask, but my boss already thinks I'm crazy - and I'm not entirely sure he's wrong," says Jocelyn. "I've already documented his rejection of my information yesterday, and I'll do it again if he refuses this request. That'll cover my bum, but it'll be small consolation if Balfour does carry out his planned attack."
Simon takes a sip of his drink, checks to make sure no one can overhear them,and continues.
"If this source of mine attests that Trumpet is some sort of threat, we may have to consider other measures. I don't like the idea of them-- namely that if we're wrong we're all looking at some pretty serious retaliations-- but you both seem convinced Balfour is plotting something horrid, and I think so too. We may have a responsibility to act in that case. Perhaps we can sneak into their home when they're out and look around for any proof."
Kris laughed. ”Don’t you think I’m in enough trouble already, Simon?”
“If there’s nothing else, I’d better go. Keep in touch and let me know what’s going on. I’ll do likewise, although if anything crops up while I’m investigating burglaries in Oxford, I’ll be very surprised!”
Jocelyn gets pretty short shrift from Giles and he dismisses her request to bug the Balfours out of hand, 'Sweetie, I'm starting to have some serious doubts about you.' Reluctantly he does share some information he's obtained from the Foreign Office about the Red Trumpet. It is not much more than she already knows, sporadic violence since the 1920s attributed to the Red Trumpet, and they're identified as a 'suspected' ethnic isolate of the Nandi people. It notes that all colonial records on the Red Trumpet were either lost, destroyed, or transferred to the Kenyan government in the 1960s. The Kenyan authorities apparently deny any contemporary Red Trumpet activity despite the rumours.
After Simon rings the number and introduces himself there is a prolonged silence, the line buzzes in the background. 'Who gave you this number?' It is a man's voice.
"A Ms. Rose Madawa. I saw that she had referenced a group known as Red Trumpet in her reporting. My name is Simon Eagleton, I am a consulting Psychologist with the London police. A recent investigation of ours has led us to an individual with ties to Red Trumpet, and we have reason to believe he is working with the group.Unfortunately information on the group and what its goals precisely are is rather limited, so any information you could offer us would be very much appreciated, Mr..." He trails off
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Simon responds. "We have reason to believe that our suspect is planning to replicate the plagues of Egypt; if this is successful, hundreds if not thousands of people could be in danger. Please sir. Anything you can tell us about Red Trumpet, their goals and their tactics could save lives. It sounds like you're saying they are dangerous; We can't do nothing and allow whatever they're planning to happen. Please, help us."
