IC -27 - Stakeout! - Everyone

[Mephistophilis]

Giving a wry smile Lucy says 'I think "rigid thinking" is flattering Burke, I'm not sure there's any thinking there at all.' She knocks back her second cup of coffee and looks slightly brighter.

'Are you letting these two go off in your service vehicle?' asks Lucy, thumping the roof of the battered Astra. Then she shrugs, 'I guess there's not much more damage they could do it. And I'm off the clock so it's not my problem. Come on then Kris...'

She strolls back to the Nissan and opens the driver side door.

So are Kris and Lucy going to do surveillance on the house for the rest of the day? Where are Simon and Jocelyn going?

[Silver Priest]

I like the idea to try and research and track down the church members listed on Johnny's phone, and try to determine which of them have young kids that might fit the bill for Balfour's sacrifice.

[Philulhu]

Trying to find any ‘missing’ children sounds like a good idea.

Are Kris and Lucy using her car or his?

[Mr. Handy]

I'd say we should get our own ride and leave them both cars, so Lucy can stay on stakeout while Kris follows anyone who comes and then leaves. However, I think that horse has left the barn, and at the rate we're going through cars, the police are unlikely to lend us another. Balfour is more likely to recognize Kris's car than Lucy's, so we should probably take his and leave hers here.

[Philulhu]

Left the barn, mounted a kerb and is now being rescued from a ditch, I think!

I can’t see the Police coming forward with another car so Jocelyn & Simon should take Chris’ car.

Are you insured to drive it?

[Mr. Handy]

I am. I also haven't crashed any cars; my own car was wrecked by hailstones after I stopped it safely.

[Philulhu]

”I guess,” said Kris and he pulled out his keys and passed them over to Jocelyn.

”Look after it,” he asked her. “I don’t think my career could survive another crash.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Thanks, I'll do my best," says Jocelyn, accepting the keys. "I'm a good driver, but if the worst happens, blame it all on me."

[Mephistophilis]

So where are Simon and Jocelyn going? If I recall the numbers from Johnny's phone were:

The control room gets back to Kris within a few minutes. 'The David number is a pre-pay, we've got no details on that, same with Winston and Zac. John is John Balfour, it's the number we already have for him. Same with Sarah, that's Sarah Balfour. Louise is listed as a Louise Hayman, address in London but she's not on the PNC, no convictions. Phil is James Williams, Wycombe address, nothing on the PNC except a speeding caution. Rachel is Rachel Johnson, also Wycombe, nothing on her. Then there's Steve, Steve Brown, address in London, got some convictions for drug possession and dealing about ten years ago.'

[Silver Priest]

"I suggest we call the police or look up in public records Louise, James, Rachel,and Steve. First we should determine if any of them have children, specifically young ones."

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, that's where we should start," says Jocelyn. "We should pay especial attention to Steve Brown, who has a record. If Balfour wants someone to take Johnny's place for some nefarious activities, he's the most likely bet."

[Mephistophilis]

Some previous research you've done:

Word has come back from the Metropolitan Police in London about the two addresses they visited. Louise Hayman is not known to them, runs a nail bar in Southwark, says she hasn't had any contact with Johnny for years and only knew him in passing back then. Steve Brown is known, used to run with the same crowd as Johnny back in the day, convictions for drug possession and dealing a decade ago but nothing since. Not on the Met's radar and currently working as a support worker in a drugs charity. He says Johnny was round a few months ago - asking about a few of their contacts from the bad old days and he got the sense he was after a gun. Steve says he didn't tell him anything.


You've also already met Rachel Johnson.

I suspect the police will have obtained or at least asked for a membership list of Balfour's church when they were searching for leads on Regina's abduction. I say Jocelyn or Simon should roll Luck to see if they handed it over.

[Mr. Handy]

Fortunately, the membership list is available now.

Luck roll (46% stat) to see if the police have provided the membership list:
d%

[Mephistophilis]

It looks like Balfour provided a list of church members to help the police in their search for Regina. There's several hundred people on the list but there's no way of knowing how accurate it is. The list contains dates of birth for most people, and it looks like there are at least thirty children (under 18s). It seems like the Church of the Passover Angel is the sort of place you register your whole family.

I'm not going to give you a list of 200 random names, so let me know if there's anything you're looking for in particular.

[Mr. Handy]

What information do we from the list about the church members on Johnny's phone? Do any of them have children?

[Silver Priest]

"Too many names here, but at least we've narrowed it down. Let's try to narrow it down further. I don't think Balfour's interested in teenagers. He would likely be looking for someone around his daughter's age, give or take a year or two." Simon sees how many names this leaves them with.

[Mephistophilis]

The names on Johnny's hidden phone are David, John, Louise, Phil, Rachel, Sarah, Steve, Winston, and Zac. They're mostly not involved with the church. Rachel Johnson doesn't have any children. You think Zac might be George Lewiston, no young children, deceased. Obviously there is John Balfour and his wife Sarah who have Regina. Of those not know to be with the church, Phil is James Williams you've already arrested, no kids. You've not managed to identify David or Winston. Louise Hayman has one daughter aged nine. Steve Brown has a two year old.

Scanning through the membership list of the church and looking for children aged four to six years old (one year either side Regina's age of five, reveals just two. Isobel Quinn and Jordan Hays.

HLdd4-61d10

[Mr. Handy]

"We need to find their current whereabouts," says Jocelyn. "MI5 could probably track their mobile phones, but we'd need some real evidence against them in particular before they'd agree to do it. It's interesting that Steve Brown has a child. He lives in London, though, so that would take some time to go there to check if he's there, then a round trip back if he isn't."

[Silver Priest]

Simon considers. "I think that we can rule Brown's child out," he says. "A two year old strikes me as too young. Both Issac and Regina were older. Regina mentioned Balfour told her the story constantly, so I think that he wants someone who can have their own faith in it. This is just a guess, of course--and I wish we had more information so that I could say for certain-- but at the moment it's the best we've got.

"Louise Hayman's could be worth looking into. But if we have to focus our resources, I'd suggest we focus on Isobel Quinn and Jordan Hays. They're close in age to Regina. I agree that tracking their phones are crucial. They'd have had to be here quite recently, I suspect; Balfour would have wanted to isolate them to convince them to agree to sacrifice their child; it's not the sort of conversation you have over the telephone. If we can connect either family here in the last 48 hours, I think we have a very good idea who Balfour is planning to use as the replacement. "

"Do you think you have enough sway to convince M15 to get us those records, or could come up with a decent story? If not, perhaps Kris or Bates could. Failing that, we target both of them tomorrow, using something like an anonymous phone call to swat them and delay them from making it to the ceremony. Maybe Hayman as well, but I'd rather not pull the same trick on three people connected with Balfour. It makes our involvement that much more obvious. If we have to do her, perhaps we puncture her tires or something." Simon had grown quite comfortable with the idea of committing certain crimes over the course of this investigation, and admitting them to his police assistants.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's not rule anyone out just yet," says Jocelyn. "We need to figure out who the guilty party or parties are before we take any action. Right now all we have is names on a list. And I don't think I have enough sway. My boss already thinks I'm crazy, and he might not be wrong. Summoning the fire brigade on Balfour was the best we could likely do in that department without arousing too much suspicion. What about Louise Hayman? Her daughter is nine, and her name was on the phone. The other two weren't. We could see if she's home."