Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

As a London copper, I’ve seen some pretty weird shit, but even I was taken aback when I learned that magic was actually a thing. Real, proper magic, with spells and everything!

Also, ghosts are real! And vampires, trolls, fairies, river gods… and there’s this whole subculture of weirdos and half-fae… oh, and don’t get me started on talking bloody foxes…

Shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Metropolitan Police secretly know all about this crap. There’s the Special Assessment Unit, run from this posh house called The Folly by a posh Detective Inspector called Nightingale (and his apprentice Peter Grant), that investigates supernatural crimes and other weird bollocks. And it turns out, they’re recruiting…

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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Izzy, you immediately sense a strong floral smell as you lean over to check the corpse. Then, as you 'attune' to pick up any possible vestigia, you sense a feeling of strong sunlight on the skin and the chittering of tropical birds and insects.

  Anyone else trying a Sense Vestigia roll?  
Between you, the media personalities that are Will 'Grimesy' Grimes and Lauren 'Loz Drivez' Hewison are well known. The former is, as Skipper suggests, a middle-aged Jeremy Clarkson-type motoring journalist and TV presenter. Known for his forthright and often controversial opinions and a darling of the right-of-centre press. He most recently hit the headlines after allegedly assaulting a runner while filming his latest TV show - a television version of his 'Drive with Grimes' podcast.

5963FA48-E210-11ED-9D6F-022316476D85.jpg

The latter can be described as the antithesis of Grimes: a social media influencer par excellance with her finger well and truly on the pulse of today's youth. Coming from a troubled youth of stealing cars, her videos and tweets about driving, racing and mechanics attract millions of followers. Often toted as a role model for black girls, sponsorship deals and endorsements have reportedly earned her millions, despite Loz being barely 20 years of age.

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Dr. Friedman ponders for a second before responding to your questions.

"My initial findings are just as I have said: a reasonably fit male whose brain has suddenly and catastrophically atrophied. If you would like, I could run further tests or pass the matter on to Forensics."

"As for his phone - that and any other belongings found on his person are being held as evidence. Sergeant Dhillon will no-doubt be able to give you access to them."


He frowns at Leo.

"Store you say? No - you misunderstand - he was found at a leisure centre - you know: swimming pool, gym, tennis courts and such. I assume they have CCTV, but I wouldn't know. You'll want visit the place won't you? You could ask and see what they've record-"

It is at this time that the PC, under Skipper's tender ministrations, emits a loud 'BEEP' before crashing. Dr. Freidman rushes to the machine, his face lit up by the blue screen of death.

"Oh! What did you-?" He sighs, taking a deep breath. "Never mind - I'll call Tech Support."

He thrusts a piece of card into your hand.

"Here's Sergeant Dhillion's details. Perhaps it's best if you get changed and arrange to meet her. I'll call if I find anything else."

He nods at Eli, treating him to a rueful smile.

"Good to see you my friend - let's catch up when we're both less... preoccupied!"

  It's heading towards lunchtime. Are you done with Dr. Friedman? What would you like to do?  
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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"That would be splendid! Under better circumstances." Eli says as shakes Friedmans hand.
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Image

Izzy quickly thinks through what they have so far. No clear cause of death other than brain atrophy - so presumably he died from HTD rearing its ugly head at the worst possible time. Question - why was he in the leisure centre before opening hours, and why in the women's changing room specifically? And what magic was he using or privy to that caused HTD to happen full force when it did?

As for the media personalities, Izzy remembers them, and she remembers that she particularly dislikes Will Grimes with the same kind of passion she reserves for Piers Morgan and similar fellows. Particularly given her own sexuality, her politics, and indeed her views on most other topics. Loz, meanwhile, she's not too fussed about either way.

She makes some notes in her own notebook.

Talk to Sgt. Dhillon
What was his job?
Any immediate family/friends? Notified yet?
Any close friends who may be practitioners?
Anyone with a grudge - any recent fallings out?
History of voyeurism?
Vestigia around brain - flowers, sun on skin, tropical birds - has he been abroad recently?
Likes sports cars - mid life crisis? Likes Grimesy and Loz Drivez, what were his political leanings? Red herring?
Check phone for microchip damage
CCTV - if entrance further from changing room, might be operational - could get time of entry - also other people, did everyone in building leave at closing time?


She shares the notes with the others. "Might be best to make a move then, unless anyone else has business with the good doctor?" Normally all of this would be added to HOLMES2, and she would be issuing actions to regular PCs, but without the support of the Belgravia team and a few PCSOs with nothing better to do, Izzy resigns herself once more to the team doing the hard work themselves.

Before they head out, Izzy approaches Des, pulling something out of her shoulder bag. On closer inspection, it appears to be nausea tablets, bought from the Tesco Express on Seven Sisters Road.

"Hey, um... sorry if I was a bit insensitive earlier. I'm weird enough to find this sort of thing interesting, but I know not everyone does. I forget sometimes. Anyway, see if these help, okay?"
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Des muttered her thanks before checking out the packet suspiciously, as if Izzy might be trying to poison her. Satisfied that wasn’t the case, she took one of the pills.
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Eli had a vague recognition of the two personalities or rather their reputations The controversial to stay relevant of Grimes and the high regard of which Loz Drivez in her field, although he's not totally sure what a social media influencer actually is. Two characters complete opposites. Chalk and cheese. " As the deceased was found at a leisure centre it should be fairly easy to trace his final.moments as the whole place would be coveted with
cctv you would think. Another question to ponder is how or indeed who introduced him to magic?"
Looking to the two detectives, " I take it that it isnt something you can just stumble into?"
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Image

Izzy thinks of the Society of the Rose, and the Little Crocodiles, both of whom had flown under the radar for so many years.

"Not exactly, but it's not unheard of for practitioners to learn from someone without coming to our attention."

Damn it, Peter, we really need to put together a list of all of these people...

"As for CCTV... It's worth looking into, but any cameras near the incident, whatever happened, were likely fried. Although we might be able to work out the effective radius of the magical effect, so we can trace any cameras that weren't in the vicinity, and check those."
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Jordan.png
"He doesn't like Loz Drivez at all," says Jordan. "I like her just fine, but he posted some derogatory comments to her. It seems he doesn't like her because she's a woman. He seems to have something against women in general. Let's talk to Sergeant Dhillon first."


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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Skipper cheers up immensely at the prospect of leaving. "Oi, Des, Loz Drivez could be you. Except you'd need to be rich and successful. Minor problem."

"Pity old mate's phone isn't here, we could use his face to unlock it, if it's a newer model. Still, we might be able to unlock it anyway, have a bit of a rummage, see what naughty secrets and all that."

"Can we go see this Met sergeant then? Have a crack at the phone, get the rest of the back story at the same time. Get some lunch..."
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Leo continues note taking as the session continues. While he was pretty good at being professional regarding other people's politics while policing, he also knew that the West--the UK and the US especially--seemed to be much more divided on certain issues than they were a few decades ago, and this division was being steadily widened by Grimes and his ilk, so his blood pressure ticks up a few notches when Grimes comes up.

"I understand. I heard dressing room and I assumed a clothing shop." Leo sighed audibly. He was really hoping for a chance to check out some cute new clothing while on the clock.

Looking at Eli, he says, "I will be happy to be part of the leisure centre team. While there may not be CCTV within a certain radius of the dressing room, there may be other footage that we find useful. Let's take a picture with us. Maybe someone noticed something the night before. Grab some curry on the way."
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”Yeah, well, you dress like a tramp!” scowled Des, giving Skipper the finger.
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This prompts an unexpected, unintentional bark of laughter from Skipper. He looks Des up and down, amused, but says nothing more about it.

Skipper then looks back at Izzy. "OK, Voodoo Child, we maybe need you to take us to see this sergeant. Please tell me this is the striking one in the hijab." He points at the black fisherman's beanie on his own head by way of mixed-messaging example.
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Image

As far as nicknames go, Voodoo Child isn't too bad. Izzy's mind is immediately drawn to Doctor Who. Here come the drums, here come the drums...

"Sorry Skip, wrong area entirely if you mean who I think you mean. Sahra's based out of Belgravia, Guildford's in the Surrey Police area. Used to work with her actually before moving to the Folly. I'll let her know you reckon she's striking, though."

She accompanies the last comment with a wink, although she has a sneaking suspicion that Sahra Guleed's preferred type of guy tended to be in the range of mystical Chinese swordsman...
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After changing out of your PPE (one assumes), you study the card given to you by Dr. Friedman.

It contains Sergeant Dhillon's number, alongside the address of Surrey Police Headquarters (off Sandy Lane - a 10 minute drive from the hospital).
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Skipper sighs. "And if that isn't just my luck. Oh well, no rest..."
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"Let's call her first," says Jordan. "She could be out in the field and not even at the HQ right now."
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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Leo disposes of his noddy suit, and he can't help but go a little middle school in as he pockets his PNB.

He looks back at Skipper, "I hear her boyfriend has a... 'magic sword'," barely able to stifle the grin. He sighs dreamily, shaking his head slowly. "Man, I would love to see that."

Then he snaps back.

"I will be happy to go with a team to the leisure centre, if we want to divide and conquer."
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Des stripped off her protective coverall and dumped it in the bin provided. ”C’mon den, let’s get goin’!” she grumbled.
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Eli disrobes from his coverall and observes his new companions and notes how very much they fit in with some of the typical student achytypes his seen in his lectures.
The Geek.
The Outsider.
The wide boy.
The popular aloof one.
The Jock.
Where that puts him......he chuckles to himself. His last thought being it brings to mind an old 1980's movie he saw once. 'The Breakfast Club'
"Right, so are we calling the Sargent first? Eli asks the group.
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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"Looks that way. Since Leo's heading to the leisure centre, I'll take a team to speak to Sgt. Dhillon."

Izzy takes the card and pulls out her work phone, tapping in the number, though not before giving a look towards Leo. Clearly he just wants to take the chance of seeing some hot gym guys glistening with sweat...
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Re: Statement 1: Morning at the Morgue

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"I'll go with you," says Jordan, disposing of his own used PPE.
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