IC - 26 - Calm Before the Storm - Everyone

[Philulhu]

”I suppose so,” grumbled Kris. He’d rather have driven but had to admit that his career probably couldn’t stand another car crash… a term that his career was rapidly coming to resemble, if he cared to dwell on it…

[Mephistophilis]

It takes the best part of an hour to drive from High Wycombe to Banbury, Jocelyn doing the job without any complications. They arrive at the Banbury Police Station, a standard nondescript redbrick municipal building. With crap parking. Eventually Jocelyn manages to find a space out the front and they report inside.

The Magistrate's Court is in a rather more attractive building of soft yellow Cotswold limestone that sits alongside the station. In fact the courthouse used to be the police station until the more modern building was constructed a few decades ago. The holding cells for the court are still accessed via the basement of the police station, through a maze of narrow, winding low-ceilinged corridors. Custody is now run by private sector contractors and Kris leads the way, sidling up to the custody desk, and asking about Johnny Zero. Apparently he's been a model prisoner. And his hearing is expected in the next hour or so.

[Philulhu]

”Model prisoner?! Don’t you believe it!” said Kris, shaking his head. ”Keep a close eye on him, he can’t be trusted!”

Moving away from the desk, he said to the others, ”I don’t know if you want to get a coffee or something. I’m going to take a walk around the building, just checking to make sure there are no familiar faces hanging around.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Good idea," says Jocelyn. "I'll check in with the prosecutor. My testimony could be helpful in making sure he stays locked up, since I witnessed what he did during his attempted flight."

[Silver Priest]

"A shame we can't get the old woman he assaulted here to testify," Simon adds. "I worry Ms Acharya can find a loophole to get him out, but it may be tough even for her, given his record. Hopefully the word of both of my esteemed colleagues keeps him behind bars."

[Mephistophilis]

Kris takes a stroll through the court buildings, he's spent plenty of time here when he was covering a beat in Oxford as a uniformed constable. The surroundings and personnel are familiar and comfortable, a few of the usual suspects in for minor drug charges, the same old legal aid lawyers, defending the indefensible for a few quid, the haggard looking CPS prosecutors, desperately trying to familiarise themselves with a case before going before the bench of magistrates.

Roll me a Spot Hidden to see if there's anything out of place

-----

Pointing out the gaggle of CPS lawyers, Kris leaves Jocelyn with a gangly young man who looks about twelve. He tells her that he is the lead CPS prosecutor on the Johnny Zero case. 'Just a formality really. We're going to charge Johnny with Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Resisting Arrest, and a couple of assault charges for good measure. It'll get committed to the Crown Court and we'll push for five years on the Possession charge. Don't worry, Mr Allen won't be going anywhere.'

-----

What's Simon doing?

[Mr. Handy]

"I just wanted to make sure," says Jocelyn. "He has a high-priced, high-powered solicitor for which someone else paid. I can testify about the assaults if needed."

[Silver Priest]

Does Simon have Johnny's mother's number after visiting her? If so he'll give her a call and ask her to show up.

[Mephistophilis]

The number for Johnny's mother rings and rings. Just as Simon is about to hang up there's a hesitant answer, 'Yes?'

[Philulhu]

Spot hidden (40%) 1d100

[Silver Priest]

"Good day madame Allen." Simon says. "Dr. Templeton here. We met briefly the other day concerning the matter with your son, Johnny. I was wondering if you were planning to attend his bail hearing today. I won't sugarcoat it... your son is in a good deal of trouble, but I think you're the only one who may be able to help him avoid making a terrible mistake." He lowers his voice. "I know Reverend Balfour may seem like a good influence considering his former crowd, but I'm sorry to say he's even worse. I cannot give full details, but let me just say that he's on a terror watchlist and our recent investigation has only reaffirmed that that was the correct decision. He's now paying for a very high priced solicitor to get Johnny out of jail, but I fear this is an attempt to buy your son's silence... or keep him complicit in some horrid acts."

"I'll be blunt. I'd like you to come by and speak with Johnny. Try to convince him to turn on Balfour. You're the only one he may listen to. I know I'm placing you in a difficult position, but if your son remains loyal to Balfour it's not going to end well for him. In addition, I'm a criminal psychologist. I know what evil looks like. And I don't see that in Johnny. I see a young man who has made a lot of mistakes, but someone who is desperate to believe and be part of something greater. And I think Reverend Balfour exploited that. If we can reach your son, I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure he gets a light sentence and has a chance to turn his life around. I solved the Thorndike murder a year ago, if you remember that one, so my word does carry some weight with the authorities."

[Mephistophilis]

'It is Joyce Williams to you son,' snaps the voice at the end of the phone. 'I suppose you're with those two detectives that paid me an unannounced visit yesterday.'

There's a long pause.

'You don't need to tell me what trouble my son is in. This isn't my first day in court with him. I'm already here if you want to meet up with me.'

-----

At the mention of Ms Acharya, the young lawyer winces. 'Yes, well. I'm sure it will all be just fine.'

This guy looks young and inexperienced and he seems nervous. Like he's not as confident as he pretends to be.

-----

Strolling around the courthouse, Kris eventually sees Ms Acharya in a huddle with a couple of other people. Catching sight of her face he sees she's got quite a smug look. A couple of the party look like assistants and junior lawyers but two others stand out. One is a short south Asian man in his forties, smartly dressed in a pinstripe suit with a cane. Perhaps the barrister retained by Carter-Ruck, but even by their standards his appearance is eccentric. Beside him is a massive man, well over six foot in an ill-fitting suit. He's in his fifties with olive skin, five o'clock shadow, and thinning dark hair. He looks more like a criminal enforcer than a lawyer.

[Mr. Handy]

"I hope so," says Jocelyn, "but I'd like to help if I can all the same."

Psychology roll (55% skill) about the lawyer:
d%

[Silver Priest]

Simon's is taken aback by Joyce's tone, and he instinctively lowers his head like a scolded child. "Of course," He says. "Just let me know where you are and I'll be happy to meet up with you." Assuming she does so, he goes to find her.

[Philulhu]

Kris studied the two men, trying to work out if he’d seen them before.

Idea roll (70%) 1d100

[Mephistophilis]

There's something about the two men that seems familiar to Kris, but he can't put his finger on it. But the guy in the pinstripe suit with a cane, that does seem an awful lot like the description of the psychiatrist that Simon was raving about, the words supercilious and self-satisfied come back to him from Simon's rants. Kris can certainly see why someone might say that about the eccentrically dressed man.

-----

'Don't worry about a thing,' says the young lawyer. 'We've got this one in the bag Officer Leigh.'

-----

Simon meets up with Joyce Williams outside the cafe. He recognises her from some way off, a short black woman in her fifties or sixties dressed in a severe tweed skirt suit and a frown big enough to be seen from space. 'So what do you want boy?'

[Silver Priest]

"Good day Ms. Williams," Simon offers his hand."Let em extend my condolences to you; I know this is not a situation any mother wishes to find herself in, even if you have sadly grown accustomed to it. Can I get you a drink?" He offers.

Once they've settled down, he continues. "It's essentially what I mentioned on the phone. Reverend Balfour is essentially a cult leader, and he's got his hooks in your son. He knew exactly what insecurities your boy had and played on them; I've seen this sort of behavior much in my line of work.

"I meant what I said on the telephone. We're concerned what Balfour's planning and think he's trying to pressure Johnny to cover for him. You may have seen the solicitor he hired; very highly regarded and good at her job. I believe this is a way of trying to ensure he maintains your son's loyalty, because Balfour knows he knows things that could bring him down-- and because we believe him to be on the reverend's business when he was arrested this last time.

He leans in. "All we'd like you to do is talk to your son. Try and gently convince him to flip on Balfour. You may be the only person he loves more than him. Balfour's church is very fire and brimstone, and he preaches how all first born must die to usher in a paradise. It's disconcerting rhetoric, and though I can't say much, we've reason to believe he may intend to take action in this direction in the coming days. Your son told me he would openly be willing to go to hell in an effort to bring Balfour's vision about. I've heard this sort of language from radicalized suicide bombers and the like. It's disturbing and won't lead anywhere good."

"In short, I'd like you to speak with your son and try to talk some sense into him. I know you've no doubt been trying that his entire life, but you're our last hope. I don't know if you have siblings or are first born, but point out the fate that would await you under Balfour's utopia, and that he's essentially taking a fall for him. We need a way to shake his unbreakable faith, and I believe you may be the only one who can do it. If you can get through to him, I swear to do everything in my power and those of my police contacts to get him the minimum sentence possible. I have given you a lot of doom and gloom here, but I do firmly believe your son is trying to turn his life around. He just had the misfortune of falling prey to a charismatic cult leader. "

1d100 If needed. Persuade 39

[Mr. Handy]

"All right," says Jocelyn. "I'll be observing all the same. If there's time before the proceeding starts, I'll keep an eye on our surroundings until then and check in with my colleagues."

[Philulhu]

Kris switched his attention to the bigger man, the one that looked a bit like an ogre shoehorned into his Sunday best.

Did he recognise him?

[Mephistophilis]

Joyce Williams looks at Simon's outstretched hand impassively, and doesn't take it. She shakes her head at his offer of a drink but sits down with Simon to hear what he has to say. The longer he talks the more alarmed she becomes. 'Oh no. the Reverend Balfour is, well, very Old Testament, if you know what I mean. But terrorism? No, no, I don't think so. John is a good boy, deep down, underneath it all I mean. I can't believe he would get involved in anything like that. No. Not at all.'

-----

'Be my guest Officer Leigh, you are welcome to watch proceedings,' says the lawyer.

-----

Again, there's something about the big man that seems familiar to Kris, like something on the tip of his tongue, but he can't quite place him. Simon did say something about a big psychiatrist, or social worker, someone big anyway, when he was moaning about his experiences in the Emergency Department in Reading.