Special Unit- The Mean Streets of London: Chapter 1

[Silent Hunter]

(OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79066))

Monday 14 July 2008, 0600 British Summer Time

The sun was ascending over the most populous city in Western Europe and there was barely a cloud in the sky.

This, for a murder detective, was not a good sign. The city of London was into day three of a heatwave and the temperatures were expected to go above 30 degrees Celsius. It is a fact that hot weather leads to an increase in violence.

It was also only two weeks before the schools broke up for the six-week summer holiday. That could cause problems.

Detective Chief Inspector Alexandra "Alex" Carlton got out of her bed, kissed her husband and got ready for work. She was an attractive white woman with peroxide blonde hair and a rather nice smile.

Attempting to balance practicality with the desire not to be too revealing for her job, she went for a white trouser suit with a pale blue blouse underneath.

She made her breakfast- porridge and a couple of slices of buttered toast and started the walk towards Basildon station.

Basildon, a large town just outside the M25 motorway that surrounded London, was most famous for the 1992 Conservative election win there, that had become a clear indicator of John Major's survival as PM. Now it was a Labour seat.

Basildon was on the c2c railway line that ran from Shoeburyness via Tilbury or Upminster to London Fenchurch Street. For a while, that line had been known as "The Misery Line", but had improved considerably.

She grabbed the first train that was heading for London. Her plan for the day was clear. She'd arrive at Limehouse, change to the DLR and get off at King George V stop for Special Unit HQ. As head of Special Unit Bravo, she was part of a team dealing with high-profile crimes in the Greater London area.

The Class 357 Electrostar, like most of the trains that ran north of the river Thames in London, was an electric multiple unit, powered by an overhead wire. There were 3 four-car units in this train, calling all stations to London Fenchurch Street.

The train stopped at Laindon and West Horndon without incident, then Upminster. It was at Barking things were different.

Barking, located in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, had once been part of Essex and in many ways still considered itself as such. The station was an interchange, being the start of the Hammersmith & City Line, a stop on the District Line and the terminus for part of the London Overground service.

She was reading her newspaper, waiting at Barking when two gunshots rang out from the vicinity of Platform One. She got up instantly and ran across the footbridge to that area. She saw a white man running away down the tracks and mount the fence on the northern side. She didn't get a look at him.

Lying on the railway tracks was a young black man with a shaved head, a white T-shirt and a tattoo. He also had two bullet holes- both in his chest.

She jumped down off the platform to try and save him, but it was clear that it was too late.

He uttered one word...

"Stechkin..."

then his eyes closed. The paramedics arrived in six minutes, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

As the Transport Police started to close off the scene, she texted the other members of her team.


Murder. Barking Station. Get here now. Carlton
(OOC: Everybody else will be heading for Special Unit HQ when they get the text message).

[Hairb]

When Luc got the message, he was in his apartment on Chalton Street, about to begin his daily meditation session. He read it, sighed, and wolfed down two slices of toast. Tea would have to wait. After changing into his work clothes, he climbed into his Mini and drove to Barking train station through the traffic he had hoped to avoid. It was almost 0800 by the time he arrived at Platform 1.

Working his way through the crowd of onlookers and Transport Police, DC Gainsbourg looked for DCI Carlton, spotting her after a few confusing moments.

Luc
"Sorry I took so long, Ma'am. What's the latest news?"

[Voshkod]

Thump . . . thump . . . thump . . . . Talcum powder flew up in a white cloud around the heavy bag. Ian Tattershall was working the bag hard, jabbing, punching, throwing the occasionally roundhouse. He was in his own place now, a red place, and the bag was the target, flickering with the faces of . . . .

Deedle deedle deedle dee! His cell started to chirp. With a grunt he pulled himself back to the here and now, read the message. "Good. 'fraid it was going to be a boring day," he muttered to himself. A quick shower and coffee breakfast later he was on the way to Barking in his ill-fitting suit.

Ian shouldered his way through the gathering crowd, plowing a path. He flashed his badge to the transport cops setting up the perimeter and approached his boss.

"Morning Ma'am, Gainsbourg. Who's our corpse?"

[Silent Hunter]

Carlton had got a change of clothes- there had been quite a bit of blood.

"Dead guy is Jomo Smith. Jamaican national, in this country on a work permit, ostensibly for construction work for the Olympics. Suspicions of involvement in gang activity.

Last word was strange. Steckhin, or something like that. Sounds Russian. I speak the language, but I can't remember what it means.

Apparently some white guy shot him on the platform. Could be racially motivated".

Which was just what they needed, especially in this area.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Murder.

Alvin was exited. Carlton hadn't bothered sending him any specifics, she never did. Detective Chief Inspector Langley, her predecessor, had done much better as far as Alvin was concerned. He had been in the habit of calling up Alvin personally and giving him all the details. Well, all the details the Inspector had noticed, off course. As soon as Alvin would arrive at the scene he'd usually find about double the amount of clues the inspector had found, even though Alvin always arrived last and he'd given the other medics plenty of time to mess about with the corpse.

Alvin "The Flash" Cramer was bound to be late now too. He was stuck in traffic, and not likely to get unstuck soon. People said Alvin was crazy for driving to work in a city like London, but Alvin didn't mind the traffic jams. He took a sip from the juicebox he was holding. He needed the vitamins at his age. 62 going on 63. Perhaps he should retire this year?

He messaged Carlton, his skilled, bony fingers darting over the buttons of his cellphone.


Any details about the murder? Cause of Death? Peculiarities?

[Silent Hunter]

Carlton received the text and sent back a reply to Dr. Cramer.


GSW. Two shots. Something about a Stechkin.

[Hairb]

DC Gainsbourg made a sour face.

"And if it were gang movitated, Ma'am, things would hardly be any better. We could be seeing reprisal attacks in that case too. How solid are his gang links?"

[Silent Hunter]

DC Gainsbourg made a sour face.

"And if it were gang movitated, Ma'am, things would hardly be any better. We could be seeing reprisal attacks in that case too. How solid are his gang links?"

Carlton sipped a water bottle. It was 25 and getting hot.

"Nothing that would stand up in court, but probable. Kingston- the one in Jamaica- have a file on him, as do the Scorpions in South Africa.

Plenty of witnesses, but I suspect many will turn out to have been in the toilet".

She inwardly sighed. She needed people to come forward, ideally. CCTV would have to do.

[Voshkod]

"Yardies against the Mafiya? That wouldn't make for a good week now, would it?" Ian started to walk over toward the fence the shooter had vaulted, checking the ground carefully.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Gunshots?" Alvin said. He seemed dissapointed. Gunshots were hardly ever that interesting, though he could remember that case five years ago when a man had made a gun out of a steering wheel lock that could fire bits of metal that looked like simple shrapnel. That was quite the case.

Dr. Alvin Cramer carefully took his laptop from the backseat of the car and put it onto the seat next to him. He quickly accessed the internet and looked up "Stechkin" in several of the more reliable search engines. He also looked it up in the police files and several other special databases. Maybe it matched a criminal. Or maybe not...


Stechkin APS (Avtomaticheskiy Pistolet Stetchkina, Russian: Автоматический Пистолет Стечкина) is a Russian selective-fire machine pistol. It bears the name of its developer, Igor Stechkin.

The gun with which the man was shot? It seemed likely. Traffic was still not moving. He sent Carlton another message, although she really should have figured it out by now.


Stechkin is a gun. I'll bet the bullets match. Strange last words.

[Hairb]

Luc paused a moment.

"It occurs to me, Ma'am, that Stechkin might be a name. We should certainly check the files to see if there are any Stechkin's involved in gang activity here."

Carefully checking where he walked so as not to disturb any evidence, Luc moved closer to where the young man had been shot to try and make sense of the scene.

[Silent Hunter]

"Yardies against the Mafiya? That wouldn't make for a good week now, would it?" Ian started to walk over toward the fence the shooter had vaulted, checking the ground carefully.

Ian saw footprints on the dry ground. They were a pair of trainers, but nothing spectacular.
----
"That might be an idea. No, now I remember. Stechkin is the name of a firearm. It's a Russian machine pistol", Carlton responded.

The man had clearly been pushed onto the track. He looked slightly stoned- had he been alive.

He was wearing some gold jewellery. There were no indications of robbery.

"Luc, get the CCTV, please", she asked.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"That might be an idea. No, now I remember. Stechkin is the name of a firearm. It's a Russian machine pistol", Carlton responded.

((Did she just take credit for Alvin's imput? :smallconfused: ))

[Silent Hunter]

((Did she just take credit for Alvin's imput? :smallconfused: ))

((OOC: No, she figured it out before she got the text message. SMS is by no means an instant process)).

[Hairb]

"Yes, Ma'am."

Luc headed over to the Stationmaster's Office to inquire about the CCTV footage. Something troubled him about moments of rapid change like this... until the overseas leads were investigated, next of kin consoled and interviewed, pleas for information made, everything would remain so... yes... up in the air. He remembered his cup of tea, now certainly stone cold back at home. This was not the start to the week he had wanted.

[Silent Hunter]

"Yes, Ma'am."

Luc headed over to the Stationmaster's Office to inquire about the CCTV footage. Something troubled him about moments of rapid change like this... until the overseas leads were investigated, next of kin consoled and interviewed, pleas for information made, everything would remain so... yes... up in the air. He remembered his cup of tea, now certainly stone cold back at home. This was not the start to the week he had wanted.

The Stationmaster was waiting in the office, holding the CD in her hand.

She was dressed in the c2c uniform and had a smile on her face.

"You a copper?" she asked.

[Voshkod]

Ian pulled a small piece of yellow tape out and marked the footprints for later analysis. He snapped a few pictures, and then went carefully to the fence, looking for snagged fabric or, even better, snagged flesh. Nice rusty fence, hurried shooter, might be some blood here.

[Hairb]

"Indeed, Ma'am. DC Gainsbourg. I'm with Special Unit."

Luc showed her his ID.

"We will be requiring this morning's security footage, all of it. Also, the names of those staff member's on duty at the time of the shooting. Were you yourself present?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Indeed, Ma'am. DC Gainsbourg. I'm with Special Unit."

Luc showed her his ID.

"We will be requiring this morning's security footage, all of it. Also, the names of those staff member's on duty at the time of the shooting. Were you yourself present?"

"I've got the discs and the security log here. I've also got something very helpful".

Behind her, he could see a printer working.

"That's a list of all the Oyster card users this morning. I think the guy might have used his own Oyster card. A registered one".

The Oyster pre-paid fare payment system had been a valuable help in crime-solving. Those with the Oyster card often had their name and address on it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((OOC: No, she figured it out before she got the text message. SMS is by no means an instant process)).
((Really? Don't we have some kind of better equipment, being the special forces and all? Instantaneous communication is very important, after all. Also, I assume I found no mention of a criminal, case or an organisation called Stechkin anywhere, right?))

Alvin had accessed the CCTV tapes from his computer ((which, I believe, is possible as an authorized officer, correct?)) and had them spinning in a loop on his screen now. He had also opened a second window where he could see what was currently going on. He took another sip from his juicebox as he turned on the police radio. An armed man fleeing in a city like London? There might be some buzz about that.

As he manoeuvred through traffic, Alvin's other hand quickly sent two more messages. The first to Carlton, the other to some of his informants.


Forward details, please. TXT or email, either is fine.


Any Stechkin sales lately? I even need intell on the minor ones. You know there's a decent pay in it, boys.

[Silent Hunter]

Ian pulled a small piece of yellow tape out and marked the footprints for later analysis. He snapped a few pictures, and then went carefully to the fence, looking for snagged fabric or, even better, snagged flesh. Nice rusty fence, hurried shooter, might be some blood here.

There was a bit of ripped denim on the barbed wire fence.

[Hairb]

"Thank you very much. Now the other staff, they are all still on duty, yes?"

[Silent Hunter]

((Really? Don't we have some kind of better equipment, being the special forces and all? Instantaneous communication is very important, after all. Also, I assume I found no mention of a criminal, case or an organisation called Stechkin anywhere, right?))

Alvin had accessed the CCTV tapes from his computer ((which, I believe, is possible as an authorized officer, correct?)) and had them spinning in a loop on his screen now. He had also opened a second window where he could see what was currently going on. He took another sip from his juicebox as he turned on the police radio. An armed man fleeing in a city like London? There might be some buzz about that.

As he manoeuvred through traffic, Alvin's other hand quickly sent two more messages. The first to Carlton, the other to some of his informants.

((OOC: You do have radios and mobiles, of course. You are Special Unit, which are special cops, but not Special Forces. You aren't a SWAT unit. The radios are at HQ, though. Good point, I'll remember that. You can telephone on your mobile, just make sure you use a hands-free kit when driving.

As for CCTV, you do have access to the rail network ones.

No criminals called Stechkin, bar a guy in prison for benefit fraud.))

Carlton rang him back.

"Flash, it's the DCI. The guy is a Jamaican. Name of Jomo Smith. Possible gang connections. Shot twice and shoved onto the tracks in the process. That platform is non-electrified, so COD was gunshot wound".

She paused to get his response.

[Silent Hunter]

"Thank you very much. Now the other staff, they are all still on duty, yes?"

"Yes, but they didn't see much. Most of them are at the barrier or in the ticket office", the Stationmaster replied.

She had a wedding ring on her finger.

"You gonna get these guys, OK? I want my kids to sleep safe at night".

[Hairb]

"We'll do our best, Ma'am. Thankyou again."

Seeing his DCI busy on the phone, Luc went back over to where his Mini was parked and grabbed the street directory off the passenger seat, before returning to the scene of the crime. Looking up his present location, he took note of the streets north of the trainline. Residential, for the most part, with a school further north along Longbridge Rd.

"Ma'am, a moment? If the gunman headed north, he must have passed through at least one whole street of houses. If we had an idea of what he looked like, then surely, somebody could identify our man. A child on the way to school, perhaps?"

He ran the next thought carefully through his mind before speaking.

"Unless, of course, our gunman is already at home. Right under our noses."

((OOC: Street data from Google Maps))

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Wait, wait, we don't have access to police radio in out cars?!! Even regular patrol cars have that!))

"Jomo Smith? How did you figure that out so fast, Alex? I'm impressed. I assume the gunshots blew him onto the tracks, yes? Please don't move anything about. I'm quite stuck in traffic right now, but I'll be there soon to analyze the crime scene. Have them forward the photos to my laptop though"

Alvin pauzed briefly to take a turn right.

"Traffic seems to be getting better. Say, inspector, why are we working on this case? It seems rather low profile to me, and the COD is a bit common, isn't it? It's likely to be just a drug deal gone wrong. Small scale stuff, you know. Not that I'm excluding any possibilities"

Alvin quickly typed in Jomo Smith's name and ran a similar search for him on his laptop. He was hoping his contacts would answer soon. Things would be easier if they could identify the gun.

[Voshkod]

There was a bit of ripped denim on the barbed wire fence.

Ian bagged it and tagged it for that medical boffin to look it, then started striding back over toward the DCI. Tattershall was a big man, over two meters, and bulky. The body of a fighter with, sadly, the face of one as well. Jagged features with a prominent scar. He moved with some grace, though, perhaps like a large cat.

"Ma'am, got some footprints and some fabric, maybe from our suspect."

[OOC: If you're looking for the right physical look, think Commander Corder from the BBC House of Cards trilogy. That's also a good example of his mental state as well.]

[Silent Hunter]

((Wait, wait, we don't have access to police radio in out cars?!! Even regular patrol cars have that!))

"Jomo Smith? How did you figure that out so fast, Alex? I'm impressed. I assume the gunshots blew him onto the tracks, yes? Please don't move anything about. I'm quite stuck in traffic right now, but I'll be there soon to analyze the crime scene. Have them forward the photos to my laptop though"

Alvin pauzed briefly to take a turn right.

"Traffic seems to be getting better. Say, inspector, why are we working on this case? It seems rather low profile to me, and the COD is a bit common, isn't it? It's likely to be just a drug deal gone wrong. Small scale stuff, you know. Not that I'm excluding any possibilities"

Alvin quickly typed in Jomo Smith's name and ran a similar search for him on his laptop. He was hoping his contacts would answer soon. Things would be easier if they could identify the gun.

((You do, but you haven't heard anything- yet... I think we're getting confused timeline wise and I suggest that we post the current time in our posts. You obviously left straight away, but Carlton was preoccupied- and there was a delay on the text, especially with a lot of people texting their relatives.

Sorry, I never got to this stage on the old site...))

0809

The police radio was mostly, at the moment, to do with crime scene discussions and some checks. The man had gone to ground, or so it seemed.

The search pulled up the fact that Jomo Smith had been a DJ at a club in Forest Gate called Echo Seven, but had been sacked for unspecified reasons.

"Driver's licence and a quick computer check", Carlton responded.

" We're working this case because of location- the guy was shot in a train station, in front of thirty witnesses. It's possibly racially motivated".

Luc arrived, describing the route.

"Good point, we'll get a door to door going".

They were both interrupted by their radios. There was an armed robbery going on at the Vicarage Shopping Centre, close to Barking station. Suspect description sounded like their man.

Carlton turned to Ian and Luc.

"You heard that?"

She grabbed her radio.

"Come with me".

With that, she broke into a run for the shopping centre.

[Hairb]

Luc shoved the files, the list and his street directory in the hands of a nearby Traffic Police constable and pointed in Ian's direction.

"Give this to him, OK?" he shouted, and then took off after Carlton. Within seconds, the oppressive summer warmth began to take its toll on him. Events were unfolding much faster than he could account for.

[MrEdwardNigma]

08:10

"Send some men over to the robbery, Alex. I'm of no use there, so I'll head for the crime scene instead and take over. Besides, traffic is hell today anyways. I've got a lead on Jomo as well, I might check that out later today, if nothing comes up. God speed, Alex"

Alvin hung up, unless the Detective Chief Inspector had something else to say. This guy was going on a crime spree. Likely either a doped up degenerate, an escaped criminal or a recent immigrant. There was a chance though this was all part of a larger plan, set to go take place today. If that was the case, Alvin would have to work fast. He pulled out the siren, placed it on top of his car and turned it on. He liked a slow drive to work, but when the need arose he could manage to hurry up a bit. Alvin floored it.

[Silent Hunter]

0815

The three officers reached the location where the robbery was taking place, a toy store.

A white man with a shaved head and wearing a black T-shirt was pointing a Stechkin at the head of the South Asian store owner. He was ranting about immigration, Enoch Powell and the state of British television.

"So, to all the politically correct people out there... I say..."

With that, he shot himself in the head.

[Hairb]

As Luc headed after his DCI, he tried to reconcile the various conflicting facts. The shooter, having killed his target in front of 30 witnesses, had fled north on foot through a densly populated area, only to show up an hour later not far away. Was he mad or merely overconfident in his plan?

He thought back to the street directory. The only across the trainline was by a backtrack through the station by foot, a huge detour through the suburbs or... in a car! Either he had one stashed nearby, or a had help from a getaway driver.

"Boss. Our shooter. He has wheels!"

((OOC: Bugger. Late.)

[Silent Hunter]

As Luc headed after his DCI, he tried to reconcile the various conflicting facts. The shooter, having killed his target in front of 30 witnesses, had fled north on foot through a densly populated area, only to show up an hour later not far away. Was he mad or merely overconfident in his plan?

He thought back to the street directory. The only across the trainline was by a backtrack through the station by foot, a huge detour through the suburbs or... in a car! Either he had one stashed nearby, or a had help from a getaway driver.

"Boss. Our shooter. He has wheels!"

0813

((Seem to have cross-posted... This is beforehand then))

"Probably, she replied, "We'll do a search".

Two minutes later, it became slightly moot.

[Hairb]

0816

Giddy with heat and exhaustion, the world spun before Luc eyes and he felt himself slump down against a wall, nauseous. He sat there for some time, head in his hands, as the world reeled inside his head.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Still no information about the gun?))

08:13
Alvin's car sped into the parkinglot near the trainstation. He ran inside. Well, it was more of a fast walk, really.
"Updates!" he screamed at the gathered members of London's finest as he walked up to the corpse. Alvin quickly assessed the situation. In the blink of an eye he took in the entire trainstation. This was his job. This was what he did.

Alvin put his laptop down on the cement and climbed down to the corpse. He opened the bag suspended from his shoulder and took out various things, among which tweezers and an inkbox. He took the victim's prints, but only after checking if he had any noticable wear on his fingers. You could tell by a man's fingers if he did heavy labour, if he played the guitar or if he spent a lot of time outside, as long as you knew where to look. Alvin then started checking the position of the corpse on the track. How did he fall down? Did he have the appropriate wounds from the fall? Did he die before or after he hit the ground?

[Hairb]

0821
Dragging himself to his feet, Luc staggered over to Alex. He looked around, taking in the details of the chaotic shopfront then smiled, weakly.

"I don't suppose our friend was courteous enough to leave ID on him?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

08:33
Alvin had dug through most of the crime scene. He'd taken a blood sample, to check both DNA and whether the victim was intoxicated at the time of death and fingerprints. He'd checked the victim's fingernails, which was normally something he'd do at the office, but speed might be necessary in this case. He'd taken some pictures, he'd made a cast of the footprints and he'd checked the eyeball dilution of the victim, to check if he was focusing on something nearby or far away when he was shot. CCTV would showed the criminal shooting him, but it would be interesting to know if Jomo saw the criminal shooting him. Making some calculations Alvin had determined the trajectories of the bullets, and he was now looking for the shells, and perhaps any extra bullets that had ended up in the wall. Alvin might have been a slow driver, but he was really quick at his job.

"I think it'll be okay to move the body, boys. I've checked everything there was to check, I'll do the rest down at the bureau. You might want to call the Inspector to make sure though"

As soon as Alvin was done here he'd start tracing the criminal's path through the station. He'd follow him in both directions up until where CCTV had stopt keeping track of him.

[Silent Hunter]

0822- Shopping Centre

"No, he wasn't", Carlton replied.

0914- Station

Cramer got a message from Dave Truman, in Hackney.


Some Russian guy was boasting about getting one in my pub last week.

[Voshkod]

Snapping on his gloves, Ian checked the Stechkin. "Nice little toy," he muttered. The smell of blood was rich in the little room. "So, Doc, what do we have here? Druggie? Nice of him to relieve the taxpayer of the cost of a trial."

[MrEdwardNigma]

08:34
Russian. That would fit the description. Still, it's by no means a certainty. The source is just pub talk, after all. Alvin continued gathering clues.

((What are the outcomes of some of the tests he has done? Described above. He'll do the tracking of the criminal's path in the next post, just reply to the other things. Nothing that had to go to the lab first, off course, just the stuff he'll know on the spot, such as the eye dilation and where the bullets and their shells went))

"Call Inspector Carlson and ask her if it's okay to move the body, constables! Don't just stand there. I need that corpse at the base stat"

[Hairb]

Merde!
Luc made a mental note to ensure that the gunman's shoes were properly handled during cleanup and to speak with witnesses, once they have been checked for shock by the paramedics. While waiting for reinforcement to help with the crime scene, he examined the clothing the dead man had on, in minute detail.

[Silent Hunter]

08:34
Russian. That would fit the description. Still, it's by no means a certainty. The source is just pub talk, after all. Alvin continued gathering clues.

((What are the outcomes of some of the tests he has done? Described above. He'll do the tracking of the criminal's path in the next post, just reply to the other things. Nothing that had to go to the lab first, off course, just the stuff he'll know on the spot, such as the eye dilation and where the bullets and their shells went))

"Call Inspector Carlson and ask her if it's okay to move the body, constables! Don't just stand there. I need that corpse at the base stat"

Cramer had found two shell casings. Both were 9mm x 18 mm Makarov rounds, with Russian letters on.

The vic had been looking at the man's gun when he'd been shot, at very close range. The first bullet was fired at waist height- so was in the wall and the second down into the man on the ground.

The nails had just grime under them and the foot prints were UK size 9.

The officers did so. Carlton called him.

"Yes, sure. Make that two bodies. Our shooter just put a bullet in his brain.
----
At the shopping centre, Luc could see the man was wearing a T-shirt with a German Imperial Eagle on it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

08:50
"Another victim? All right, I'll be there, after I finish here. If I go there first this crime scene might be contaminated"

As Alvin retraced the victim's steps (off course going round when faced with the fence) he sent off another message to Dave Truman.


We need to talk. Meet me in your pub at 13:05. It's still the Black Horse you frequent, correct?

((Retracing the villains steps is off course done by watching the CCTV footage and then walking the exact same path, hoping to find clues such as notes thrown in garbage cans and such))

[Silent Hunter]

0924

He got a message back.


Yep. Will do.

[MrEdwardNigma]

0924

He got a message back.


Yep. Will do.

((Two things: It took a half an hour to get a message back? And did Dr. Alvin find anything while retracing the villain's steps?))

[Silent Hunter]

((Two things: It took a half an hour to get a message back? And did Dr. Alvin find anything while retracing the villain's steps?))

((OOC: He was taking a shower and didn't hear it))

Dr. Cramer didn't find anything as he went along. Well, except some vomit. The man had eaten a taco.

[MrEdwardNigma]

09:01
Dr. Cramer made one of the constables bag the vomit, then he had them take the casts, the bullet from the wall and all other circumstancial evidence.
"Question everyone here thoroughly, make plenty of pictures and get copies of all CCTV recordings. I would also like the blueprints of this place delivered to my office. Anyone who's seen anything should be sent to the police office for questioning. Our killer may be dead, but that doesn't mean we don't need to get to the bottom of this. We'll likely need a press statement by the end of the day"

Alvin walked back to his car and drove off to the second crime scene. More bagging and tagging to do. Gunshots again, but suicide this time. Even less interesting. Today was turning out to be quite dissapointing.

[Hairb]

Luc combed the floor to the Toyshop, looking for shell casings, dropped personal effects, anything that might have been missed. He then put a call through to Dr Alvin Cramer, relaying a detailed description of the suicidal man down the phone.

"How does that match up with what you're finding at station, Doctor?"

((OOC: By now, I assume, the shopping center is swarming in regular police. Is this correct? Will I be able to leave to leave the scene without fear of it being tampered with?)

[Silent Hunter]

Luc combed the floor to the Toyshop, looking for shell casings, dropped personal effects, anything that might have been missed. He then put a call through to Dr Alvin Cramer, relaying a detailed description of the suicidal man down the phone.

"How does that match up with what you're finding at station, Doctor?"

((OOC: By now, I assume, the shopping center is swarming in regular police. Is this correct? Will I be able to leave to leave the scene without fear of it being tampered with?)

((OOC: That's correct))

He found a business card for David O'Reilly, a local head of a plumbing firm.

[Hairb]

Luc slipped under the police cordon and headed for a less crowded part of the centre, where the background noise was less severe. Having found a spot, he made a back to the office, requesting notification from the missing persons unit if a person matching the gunman's description was reported missing. He also had a search run on David O'Reilly and his plumbing business. After ending the call, he went looking for directions to office of the building's security chief. The way this investigation was going, they'd need all the evidence they could gather, and more CCTV footage was as good a start as any.

[Voshkod]

Now that the patrol boys have the matter under control, Ian returns to the office as well. He knocks on the side of Luc's cubicle. "Gainsbourg. What's your take on it? Just another stupid kid with a head full or drugs and BNP propaganda, or something else? You pull down the CCTV yet?"

[urscreenhere]

((( OOC: :smalleek: The amount of messgaes, and stuff going on RL latley, I ain't been able to post yesterday or this morning. So, I'd presume Jared's over on this thread, right? :smallconfused: Being left so behind by about almost three to four houers worth of virtual-time... Jared would have to have had a reason for being so late. Here goes)))

05.30
Brian Jared work up with a start. There was clattering downstairs, and mumored voices. Looking at the time he grtew apprehensive, and got changed quickly, heading to the stairs landing. He crept up to the kitcghen where the voices could be heard. He only had one flatmate who would be up this early... He opened the door, gearing himself to jump to the side at any minute. There was his flatmate Kelly talking to a cat. The television was on, hence the other voices. She looked to him surprised, with raised eyebrows. It looked as if she had hardly slept at all.

"You're up early. Good, we can finally talk", she said, stroking the cat. Jared thought she was allergic. He must've thought wrong.

He stared at her as if for the first time. She seemed different, almost. Distant, too. Is she on drugs? She hadn't played with dope since college, as far as he knew. His voice souded jsut as strange, "Now might not be the time. I've got to get-" "To work, yeah", She replied sarcastically, "But what about these bills? They won't pay for 'emselves" They were her bills in her hand, but before he could tell her so she interrupted him with a wave of the hand, scaring the cat away. She looked at the cat rather than him.

"The electrics up quite a bit. And why ain't you paid no rent. What is your problem lately, eh?" What was his problem?? He couldn't figure her out. He went up to her slowly, trying his best to be reasonable. He held her shoudlers softly, making her look at him. His eyes hurt like made. "Those... those are your bills. Mine are on the other side. Unless they're Matt's", Jared said as amiably as he could, "are you're sure you are alright?"

She started crying in his arms thern, and for a few full seconds or so, he wasn't sure why, what was going on.

"Go back to sleep, now. To your room" The cat snuggled too against his leg. Luckily he hadn't on proper clothes for work, yet. "And whose is the cat?"

"I dunno, it was left outside. Couldn't just leave it out there, now... could I have him?" She asked, childlike. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

His body burning, his throat asking for orange juice, or better. All he could do was nod. He got her to bed, tucking her in. She was already in her nightgown, and you wiouldn't exactly go around helping poeople like he was fdoing now. She was in a right state. He got the cat outside, putting some tinned beef on one of his bowls for it, then reebering he needed such said bowl for cereal .Never mind cereal, waht was the time?


6.45
Jared had brushed away the cat hairs, gort a quick shower, careful not to wake his flatmates. He got into his best suit, reasoning that he wouldn't have time now for his early morning jog. He got out of the flat complex and headed up past hyde park to knightsbridge. By the timne he reachecd the station. It was almost 7.15
He got a quick snack for the train journey, and had to wait sometime till he could find a place to even stand up in the train.
It was almost 8.00 when he got to the right station; absent mindedly he got off the wrong place a few stations back, and then just the same a few stations forward.

8.15
Entering the main building Jared found the place vacant of his team. Heading up to the secretary, she too had caught no sight of anyone entering the building. He flicked his phone out and go to phoning Carlton. MNo answer, she must be busy. He tried again, later on. Abnd then tried phoning some of teh others. No use.

It was getting on, and eventually he tired phoning her for a fifth time, fearful. Either he was late, or she was... Thikning no further, Jared got out of the building, baring himself to tghe hot sun. Certianly, though, he'd get more signal outside.

He rang Carlton again, this time waiting until if she didn't answer, he'd leave a message. And tehn find out if there was a recent crime, or siometihng linking her sudden dissapearance

[Silent Hunter]

((OOC: Yep, he's over here))

0816

Carlton answered the phone.

"Morning, Carlton. Did you not get my text?" she asked, "Some gang guy's been shot at Barking station?"

0841

O'Reilly had come back as a known troublemaker, with links to the Far Right. He'd been involved in football hooliganism in the past and in 2005 had been arrested in Germany for Hitler-saluting three police officers- one of whom was now the head of the Berlin Spezielle Polizeieinheit, the local version of Special Unit.

He was believed to be part of "Protect Europe", a European group of far-right organisations.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Wait, am I an hour ahead of everyone? :smallconfused: Trying to make the timeline make some sense...))

08:50
"Luc? Ah, I see. Now, look, I need to actually see the crime scene myself. I'll be down there soon, but if you want to go to the station that's fine. Don't touch anything though. I've got plenty of other stuff that needs investigating. There's a guy named Stechkin in jail, and it seems too much of a coincidence to me. No-one tells us the brand name of the gun they were shot with as his last words, that just doesn't make sense. Besides, he's a Russian, and your dead friend appears to be as well. The bullets are rounds that could have been fired with a Steckin, but another gun could have been used as well. If it's another gun, like a normal Makarov or a P-64, we'll be very close to certain about Stechkin's involvement. Otherwise, it might just be an extreme coincidence"

Alvin takes a deep breath.

"If the bullets do match a Stechkin, that'll be an entirely different case. Jomo would know a little bit too much about guns for a DJ, although I must admit he could have just read it off the gun, as it was very close to him. It is however unlikely the gun has it's name clearly engraved on the side, especially in anything but Russian. Besides, it makes no sense for Jomo to make the name of the gun his last words. Due to the killer's last words, his dresscode and Jomo's ethnicity, I would guess this might have been a race crime too. Ironical, since the killer is likely an immigrant as well"

"Something else you might want to check, Luc, is the killer's route to the station. Try to find somewhere where they sell tacos, and show them a picture. Try to work from there. We need to know what made him decide to kill Jomo. If it wasn't just a random hate crime, you might want to check out the club Jomo worked at as well, Echo Seven in Forest Gate. I'll be down at the mall in a bit, you can go ahead and return to the office, or perhaps check out some leads. There might be some witnesses down at the precinct"

09:03
Dr. Cramer arrived at the mall, pulling his car over and walking over to the corpse. The first two things he did were checking the killer's shoesize and the brand of the gun. Then he took a blood sample. This irrational behavior combined with his throwing up might indicate drug use. He also checked the corpse's arms for signs of needle use. As he was working on the arms anyways, Alvin took fingerprints with his inkbox.

He adressed one of the witnesses.
"What exactly went down here? I need to know every detail"

[Silent Hunter]

)
He adressed one of the witnesses.
"What exactly went down here? I need to know every detail"

0904

"This skinhead just walked into the toy store, pulled a gun on the shopkeeper and started ranting. He looked really unhinged. Then he shot himself. That was nasty"

The office worker looked slightly shaken up. This was not surprising. She was also in bad need of a hair cut.

To be honest, I think I've seen him before. At the Mental Health Clinic.

[MrEdwardNigma]

0904

"This skinhead just walked into the toy store, pulled a gun on the shopkeeper and started ranting. He looked really unhinged. Then he shot himself. That was nasty"

The office worker looked slightly shaken up. This was not surprising. She was also in bad need of a hair cut.

To be honest, I think I've seen him before. At the Mental Health Clinic.

((Do the shoes match the footprints? Is the gun a Stechkin, and more importantly, does it have the word Stechkin inscribed on it? Does the man have traces of needle use?))

09:04
"And what exactly were you doing at the Mental Health Clinic?"

Alvin signaled one of the Constables and asked him to try to take down a complete copy of the skinhead's speech by questioning the witnesses. He'll also need to question them about other peculiarities at the scene. As soon as Alvin was done with the witness he was talking to, he went to the shopkeeper, who was being watched by some medics and guzzling down a bottle of water, and he asked him what exactly had transpired from his point of view. Alvin also asked for the security tapes from inside the store.

[urscreenhere]

((OOC: Yep, he's over here))
Carlton answered the phone.

"Morning, Carlton. Did you not get my text?" she asked, "Some gang guy's been shot at Barking station?"


Wiping his hand over his face, he looked hard back at the base.
"Barking station... It'll take me a while to get there. I'm here at the base. What would you guys need? And what signal* are you on?"

Jared breathed hard covering the microphone. Soon he might well have ot take his jacket of. It was a sweltering day. He put back the earpiece properly so he could read her reply.


(((OOC: *- By "Signal" I mean the radio transmission)))

[Silent Hunter]

((Do the shoes match the footprints? Is the gun a Stechkin, and more importantly, does it have the word Stechkin inscribed on it? Does the man have traces of needle use?))

09:04
"And what exactly were you doing at the Mental Health Clinic?"

Alvin signaled one of the Constables and asked him to try to take down a complete copy of the skinhead's speech by questioning the witnesses. He'll also need to question them about other peculiarities at the scene. As soon as Alvin was done with the witness he was talking to, he went to the shopkeeper, who was being watched by some medics and guzzling down a bottle of water, and he asked him what exactly had transpired from his point of view. Alvin also asked for the security tapes from inside the store.

"I've been suffering from post-natal depression", she replied.

The weapon found was a Stechkin, but the only lettering on it was in Russian, none of which said Stechkin. The shoes match the footprints and there is some unidentified dirt in them. There is evidence of needle use.

[Silent Hunter]

Wiping his hand over his face, he looked hard back at the base.
"Barking station... It'll take me a while to get there. I'm here at the base. What would you guys need? And what signal* are you on?"

Jared breathed hard covering the microphone. Soon he might well have ot take his jacket of. It was a sweltering day. He put back the earpiece properly so he could read her reply.


(((OOC: *- By "Signal" I mean the radio transmission)))

"Channel Secure Four", Carlton replied. "Bring your lovely self, your usual detective stuff and your best journalist handling technique".

[MrEdwardNigma]

((What about the store clerk? What can he tell us? And the security tapes?))

09:05
Alvin asked the woman's phonenumber, adress and name and then he informed about the adress of the mental hospital. He also told her to go down to the prencinct for questioning. In fact, he asked a constable to accompany her there. Dr. Cramerthen collected the dirt from the shoes and ordered the body to be brought to the base. He briefly considered heading down to the mental hospital right away, but then decided his next stop was to be his office.

Alvin strolled down to his car and as he took off he called Luc.
"Luc, Dr. Cramer here. I have a definite indication that either Jomo knew his guns, and thus isn't as innocent in this as it seems, or, more likely, that Stechkin really was involved. The man, not the gun. If Jomo knew this though, he would also have to be involved. My hypothesis is this wasn't a racial hate crime after all. You should either check out Jomo, and the club where he worked, or Stechkin. Try getting someone else at the station to help you and each do half of the job. I'll dig into the killer's past. I've got some good leads already. I'll be at base soon, should you wish to talk to me"

09:49
(Yes, Alvin actually took three quarters of an hour to get there...)
Dr. Cramer got out of his car and walked into the bureau. He greeted Luc and brought him up to speed.
"So I'll be looking into the killer. I'll likely spend the rest of the noon looking through the evidence I've gathered, and I'll head down to my contact in the afternoon. With some luck we'll be able to bring down the arms dealer as well, providing the killer didn't have a license. Less guns, less killers, I always say. Or more interesting ones, at least, eh kid?"
Alvin's hand ran through his combed back grey hair as he sucked the last bit of liquid out of his juicebox and tossed it into the trash.

"After that, I'll check out the killer's most likely route to the station, hopefully finding the place where he got himself agitated enough to kill Jomo. Perhaps a pub where he met someone who gave him an assignment, perhaps a drug shack where he shot himself up before carrying out the job. I'm pretty certain Jomo wasn't quite innocent himself, so I'm assuming the killer was ordered to kill him for now. Perhaps even by Stechkin, the man you could go investigate. Unless you have a better lead, off course, then we'll need to find someone else. I'm limiting myself to the killer and the evidence for now"

Dr. Cramer pauzed again, this time to stare at one of the more attractive women at the bureau. As soon as she noticed him, he gave her a sly smile, and she giggled, returning to her work. "The Flash" was still very handsome for his age.

"When I'm done with checking out his route to the station, I'll try to figure out his route away from it. As you told me, he got to the mall surprisingly fast for a man avoiding the residential area. Besides, something must have put him up to killing himself. Perhaps the drugs were bad? Perhaps it was a suicide job? I'm still not sure, but I will be"

Dr. Alvin Cramer always was sure in the end. He seemed to live for this job, and this job alone. "The Flash" didn't drink, smoke, watch any television besides the news or had any hobbies besides forensic analysis. And women, off course. Alvin always did seem to have some time to flirt. Then again, he seemed to have time for everything. Alvin never hurried, unless when gathering doing his job. Despite his flirtiness though, he only slept with women very rarely. He was pretty old, after all.

Alvin took a deep breath, as if he had been thinking.
"When I'm through at the station I'll check out the mental hospital our killer was apparently in. I'll need to know if he had any conditions that could have driven him to do this..."
Alvin hesitated.
"I'm going to go do my job now, Luc. Good luck with Stechkin and Jomo"

Alvin went down to his lab and set to work on blood test for both Jomo and the killer, identity checks through their fingerprints and DNA, trace analysis on the dirt from Jomo's nails and the killer's shoes (seperatly, off course) and an analysis of the killer's vomit to check his stomach contents.

[Silent Hunter]

((The store clerk is too shocked to be coherent at the moment. The tapes confirm it was the Barking shooter.

I should have clarified. I mean clinic, not hospital. Our shooter was a Care in the Community person, seemingly not sectionable. Vis a vis terminology-see the OOC thread)).

The address was of the Barking Community Mental Health Team, at Barking Hospital on Upney Lane.

Fingerprints for Jomo came back no match for any unsolved cases. The fingerprints for the shooter was for one Edward Barker, a Barking resident and known racist- he'd been given a two years suspended sentence for racial harassment and was known for running with Protect Europe.

Jomo's fingernail dirt was common garden soil from any allotment in the local area.

The dirt under Barker's shoes matched the crime scene. Vomit indicated he'd eaten a tandoori at about 6am. The lab tech noted the irony.

[Voshkod]

10:00 hours

Tattershall got himself a donut and a cup of sludgy coffee. His head was pounding. He pulled up the BBC and London Times on the Internet to see how they were playing the story. So far, given the trail of corpses, this was one for the Doc.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((-What about the blood tests? Any peculiarities? Drugs in their blood? Alcohol?
-We have an OOC?
-What's the difference between clinic and hospital, and what does Care in the Community person and "not sectionable" mean?
-Has he eaten both a taco and a tandoori?
-The store clerk was told to go down to questioning as well in that case))

10:20
Dr. Cramer decided no autopsy would be necessary. Instead he took background checks of Jomo, Stechkin and Edward. He also checked with ballistics about the gun. What did the russian letters read? Were all the bullets fired from the gun, and were any more bullets fired from it?

Dr. Cramer also explained the leads he had to Tattershall as he passed by him.
"You could do the lead Luc doesn't check out, I suppose. Your pick, Stechkin or Jomo? Unless you have a good lead yourself, off course"

[Silent Hunter]

((OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79066)

A clinic is essentially a doctor's surgery, for people not needing a hospital bed. "Care in the Community" means that the guy had a mental illness not sufficiently bad enough to warrant his forcefully being placed in a mental hospital- called "being sectioned" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectioned#United_Kingdom).

My mistake- a taco then.

The store clerk will be in shock for several hours more.

DNA has yet to come back on either)).

1010

The news of the two shootings had broken on both of these websites. They were largely keeping to the known facts. The Times hadn't got the following day's leader up yet. Comments in the comments area for the story expressed their concern about the murder rate in London and attacked the government, as per usual.

1025

The letters on the Stechkin read, in Russian, "Protect Europe". There were still 17 rounds in the weapon. It matched a murder from about six months ago in Hounslow.

[urscreenhere]

"Channel Secure Four", Carlton replied. "Bring your lovely self, your usual detective stuff and your best journalist handling technique".

Holding back a laugh, Jared thanked Calton, and jogged back into the building after hanging up. Your lovely self, Jared amused himself thoughtfully as he got in and brought himself up with a radio, tuning it into the right channel. He also got his jacket off, storing it in a locker, and left his suitcase, taking up the bare essentials. Note-paper and two pens, with some other measly things.

He started heading over to the station, taking one of the team cars, sirens wailing. That shoudl get him there faster, at least.

(((OOC: I know it's probably a bit late, but could I edit this post, and have him drive there, if hev could use one of the team's cars; or doesn't it work that way? Plus, I reckon in terms of IC stuff, even with KLondon's "fantastic transport system" it might still take him half an hour to even forty-five minutes to get there; so respectively my post will be a little bit later on in RL day)))

(((Add OOC: Thanks ^^)))

[Silent Hunter]

Holding back a laugh, Jared thanked Calton, and jogged back into the building after hanging up. Your lovely self, Jared amused himself thoughtfully as he got in and brought himself up with a radio, tuning it into the right channel. He also got his jacket off, storing it in a locker, and left his suitcase, taking up the bare essentials. Note-paper and two pens, with some other measly things.

He started heading over to the station, taking the train and running the rest of the way.

(((OOC: I know it's probably a bit late, but could I edit this post, and have him drive there, if hev could use one of the team's cars; or doesn't it work that way? Plus, I reckon in terms of IC stuff, even with KLondon's "fantastic transport sysstem" it might still take him half an hour to even forty-five minutes to get there; so respectively my post will be a little bit later on in RL day)))

((No problem))

[Hairb]

Having retrieved the tapes*, Luc returned to the toy shop and dragged DCI Carlton aside:

"With all due respect, Ma'am, I feel this investigation is getting a little out of control. We should regroup at Manor Way Rd, hmm? Assemble a plan of action for our next step, don't you think?

(*OOC: What Luc was looking for were tapes of the whole centre, not merely the store. Toy Shop ones are OK though))

[Silent Hunter]

Having retrieved the tapes*, Luc returned to the toy shop and dragged DCI Carlton aside:

"With all due respect, Ma'am, I feel this investigation is getting a little out of control. We should regroup at Manor Way Rd, hmm? Assemble a plan of action for our next step, don't you think?

(*OOC: What Luc was looking for were tapes of the whole centre, not merely the store. Toy Shop ones are OK though))

"I agree", Carlton replied.

((OOC: He has the whole lot))

[Hairb]

"Well in that case, I'll start back. My car's still at the train station."

Luc headed for the station, got in his car, and drove back to Manor Way Rd, were he began assembling a list of all clues, leads and evidence discovered thus far, in preparation for the rest of the team's return.

[Voshkod]

Ian thumped his fingers heavily on his desk for a moment, then labourously typed out an e-mail to Central Records, requesting everything on a prisoner named Stechkin. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, pulled some darts out from his desk drawer, and started throwing them at the picture of the Prime Minister tacked on the wall of his cube.

[Silent Hunter]

Ian thumped his fingers heavily on his desk for a moment, then labourously typed out an e-mail to Central Records, requesting everything on a prisoner named Stechkin. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, pulled some darts out from his desk drawer, and started throwing them at the picture of the Prime Minister tacked on the wall of his cube.

[comment censored for possible RL politics violation :smallwink:]

1200

The reply came back. Igor Stechkin, of Nottingham, was serving two years for defrauding £40,000 of Disability Benefit from the government. He was 41, had no kids and had claimed he was paralysed when he wasn't.

There were no other connections with any gangs or anything, bar a case where he'd been suspected of buying a TV that had, to use the common parlance, "fallen off the back of a lorry".

((OOC: That means stolen)).

[Silent Hunter]

1159

Cramer got the blood test results back on the two corpses.

Barker had tested positive for a derivative of LSD, street name "Eclectic". He showed signs of clinical depression. No alcohol in system.

Smith showed traces of cannabis from his system during the previous night. He also had herpes. Blood alcohol was 100 mg per 100 millimetres, meaning that he had probably had a binge last night- he was still over the legal drink-driving limit.

An email arrived from Transport for London with details of the Oyster card use for both of them. Barker had been making a fair few journeys to Harold Hill, a housing estate area in Havering.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((I've listed all our leads in the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79066). We should divide them and each go after two or three))

12:00
"Drugs. As I expected. But did they cause the crime, or were they merely used to facilitate it? And, perhaps even more intriguing, did they cause the suicide?. It seems I still have time to check out the crime scene once more. My meeting in the Black Horse is only at 13:00"

Alvin packed up his stuff and left for the station, after telling someone from the labs to gather up the corpses personal items for later inspection.

12:23
As soon as Alvin arrived at the station, which was considerably faster than before due to traffic waning, he looked up the CCTV for outside the station. He needed to retrace the criminal's steps as far as possible. He also looked up any places you could buy tacos in the area.

[Hairb]

"Well, we've got two grieving families to deal with here --- Barker's and possibly Jomo Smith's, if he has any relations in the UK. I'll get some addresses and start on that, if you like. We could try a doorknock near their houses too --- that might turn something up."

Luc began a search on Jomo Smith, looking for any family he may have in the country. Afterwards, he got details of Barker's parents, and then the addresses of the two dead men. He made a cup of chai for himself before setting off on what would undoubtably be a series of unpleasant tasks.

[Silent Hunter]

Barker's parents were living in Becontree, specifically on the massive council estate there. His father was a postman and his mother was a part-time cleaner at a local secondary school.

Barker had lived in a bed sit in Netherfield Gardens in Barking.

Jomo had no relatives in the UK- his parents were living in Jamaica. He lived, with his girlfriend, in Manor Park.
----
1230

Barker, as the Oyster data confirmed, had entered Barking station at 0735. He had been coming from the north, but CCTV lost him after a while.

There were two taco shops in the area. Twenty Four Tacos, on Station Parade, was the only one open 24 hours.

[Hairb]

Luc drove over to the Manor Park address the database had given him. He took a deep breath before stepping out of the Mini and knocking on the front door.

[Silent Hunter]

Luc drove over to the Manor Park address the database had given him. He took a deep breath before stepping out of the Mini and knocking on the front door.

A young woman, wearing a dress gown and clearly hung over, opened the door. She was a black woman, with braided hair.

"Yes?" she asked.

[Hairb]

A young woman, wearing a dress gown and clearly hung over, opened the door. She was a black woman, with braided hair.

"Yes?" she asked.

Luc showed her his warrant card.
"We have this as the registered address of a Jomo Smith. Does he reside here?

[MrEdwardNigma]

12:31
Alvin looked up any CCTV footage for the taco shops. Should Barker show up on either, he would pay a visit to the taco shop in question (or if there wasn't any footage too, off course). Alvin would ask whoever was at the counter if he was working there at 7 to 8 in the morning, and then he would show them (or who-ever was working there at the time) a picture of Edward Barker. He would ask them if the man had been in there, if he had been with anyone and whether they recognized any of these men. Then he would show a picture of O'Reilly and a picture of Jomo.

[Silent Hunter]

((Don't forget the pub))

Barker had been in Twenty Four Taco at about 7.15 am. He had walked in, bought a taco, freshly made, then left. There was only one person on the counter and he was along. During this, he had answered a telephone call on his mobile. This had not been found. There was no clue as to where he had been before then. The CCTV for that area had not been working.

The other shop had been closed the whole relevant time.

[Voshkod]

Ian hung back slightly from the doorway of the Smith residence. This was the soft moment; let Gainsbourg handle it.

[OOC: If you don't object, I'll have Ian with Luc. After we deal with Smith, we can hit the plumber.]

[Silent Hunter]

[No objection]

"Yes", she replied, "Have you arrested him or..."

She started to break down in tears.

[Voshkod]

Tattershall cocked an eyebrow. Interesting response to seeing your friendly constables, he thought. Ma'am, you'll be relieved to know we haven't arrested Mr. Smith, he said in his head while hiding a thin smile.

[Silent Hunter]

Tattershall cocked an eyebrow. Interesting response to seeing your friendly constables, he thought. Ma'am, you'll be relieved to know we haven't arrested Mr. Smith, he said in his head while hiding a thin smile.

She was heading towards distraught.

"Is he dead or not?" she screamed.

[Hairb]

"I'm sorry. Jomo was killed at Barking Station this morning. We believe it was murder."

Luc let out a deep rueful sigh.

"His killer is no longer at large."

[Silent Hunter]

"I'm sorry. Jomo was killed at Barking Station this morning. We believe it was murder."

Luc let out a deep rueful sigh.

"His killer is no longer at large."

The woman burst into even more tears.

"I knew this would happen. He always hung with the wrong crowds...

[Voshkod]

Ian steps up. "Ma'am, may we come in, ask you a few questions? I'm sure you're as anxious as we are to make sure his killer is punished."

[Silent Hunter]

"Yes, you can", she replied.

She looked like she wasn't going to be a very coherent interviewee.

[Hairb]

Luc took a seat and soaked up the details of Smith's residence.

"For how long did you know Jomo Smith?"

[Silent Hunter]

The flat was a typical one for a London tower block. Fairly small, but well lived in. There were posters of fast cars on the wall, but an absence of "loose women", his girlfriend, Jenna Goldsmith, had removed them.

It smelt of tobacco- and cannabis.

"About 18 months", she replied.

[MrEdwardNigma]

12:03
After checking if the employee knew anything about the phonecall, Alvin returned to his car and looked up the relevant satelite footage for earlier that day. He attempted to track Edward Barker, knowing when he had exited and entered both the station and the taco shop. He then retraced the killer's steps to find the cellphone he had most likely dumped. ordered a sweep of the area. That cellphone had to be around there somewhere.

[Voshkod]

"You said he 'hung with the wrong crowd,' ma'am. What crowd was that?" Ian's eyes swept the room for anything that might justify tossing the flat, searching for drugs, cash, anything that would let him run her in as well. People always talk so much more freely in custody.

[Silent Hunter]

The employee had heard him merely acknowledging the call by saying "Yes" a few times.

The sweep of the area would take about two hours to complete- and probably involve examining a few bins.
----
"Yardies. You know, the gangsters from Jamaica. Some guy who he only called Roland".

There was a bong visible in a corner.

[Hairb]

Luc asked "Ms Goldsmith, was Jomo ever involved in drugs?"

[Silent Hunter]

Luc asked "Ms Goldsmith, was Jomo ever involved in drugs?"

"Yes, that's right...".

She noticed the bong in the corner. She looked at the door and considered making a run for it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

12:55
As soon as the constables arrived and started sweeping the area, Alvin had returned to his car and drove to the Black Horse pub. He'd been here several times before. It used to be a hangout for firemen, but when the old owner died and his son took over they took their business elsewhere and it was now a rather notorious hangout for washed up thugs.

Dr. Cramer's contact fitted into the crowd rather well, but he was different still. The contact had been a lot of things. Arms and drugsdealer, briefly. But that was before he knew Alvin, a long time ago. He'd owned a car shop. He'd been a blackjack dealer. He always made a living selling information though, even when in between jobs.

Alvin greeted him from across the bar and asked for a cranberry juice. Nothing gets the juices flowing like a cranberry juice, Alvin thought. Alvin payed for the contact's beer and wasted no time. He wanted to know what Barker had said in the pub.

[Silent Hunter]

The contact had decided to give a bit of background first.

"You know the Russians used to have a load of troops in East Germany?"

He paused to listen to his response.

"Apparently there was this arms dump near Leipzig. When the Russians pulled out- a whole load of weapons disappeared. Including about 40 Stechkins. That and a few missile launchers.

Apparently, he knew some guy who had ten of them".

[Voshkod]

Ian shifted in his seat slightly, positioning himself to trip her if she bolted. "What about you, ma'am? Are you involved in drugs?" He looked straight at the bong.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Russian. That was to be expected. Any idea who his arms dealer was? You know this town inside out, you must have some clue"

[Silent Hunter]

Ian shifted in his seat slightly, positioning himself to trip her if she bolted. "What about you, ma'am? Are you involved in drugs?" He looked straight at the bong.

"Er..."

She got up and started to run for the door.

((OOC: You know the caution right?))
----
"Some guy named Matthias Schmidt. German dude. Think he was a Commie soldier. That's all I know".

[Hairb]

Luc shot Ian a meaningful look as he leap from his chair and tried to get himself between Goldsmith and the door. Although not as fitness-conscious as some in the GLPS, Luc was pretty quick on his feet. This silly woman, he thought, is going to get herself pulled in over possesion offences while her boyfriend's on a morturary slab for god-knows-what-reason.

[Silent Hunter]

Goldsmith stopped and realised she wasn't going anywhere. She considered hitting him, but that would just make things worse.

((Precise offence is possession of a Class C drug, contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971))

[urscreenhere]

(((OOC: Sorry for not replying, I was busy RL, and unfortunetly I had almost completley forgotten about this site. Almost. I'm presuming as well everyone else is off somewhere else now. IC chat will converge, hopefully - I reckon no-one has their radios? Jared'll try contacting Cartlon, fail, and try ringing her mobile or something... Plus is it Calton or Carlson? I think people posted differntly, so I'm just confused as ever)))

Jared took the car to the station, parking it nearby, and taking the keys and radio with him. His other stuff was stored crudley in his pockets, since whilst there was always a rule of professionalism he probably didn't have the time, and he hoped neither would Carlton.

He found the police there working on the crime scene. He waved his badge infornt of them, before asking where the team was. They didn't know, so Jared snuggled himself back into the car and tried the radio, hiding himself from the growing sound of nearby traffic. With three replies and no answer, he resorted to calling her no her mobile. Hopefully then she would answer. He didn't know the rest of the new team that much since joining in, and so trusted carlton much more, working with herm ore regularly.

((Add. OOC: I'm also taking the assumption that this follows on some time after the events from the original game on RPOL; So in this instance, jared would be reffering to the older team - wherever they went. If this ain't right, let me nkow of course)))

[Voshkod]

Ian pulled out his flexicups. "Ma'am, you're under arrest for possession of a Class C drug. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." He smiled. "Now, turn around and put your hands behind you."

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Add. OOC: I'm also taking the assumption that this follows on some time after the events from the original game on RPOL; So in this instance, jared would be reffering to the older team - wherever they went. If this ain't right, let me nkow of course)))
((Dr. Alvin "The Flash" Cramer for one has been with the team for a long time. Thirty-two years. He's not new, so unless you were transferred, Alvin was in the team all along. You might simply have never met him, off course, but that's only likely if you've joined the team recently or have never entered the police station))

13:01
"All right, call me if anything comes up"
Alvin finished his cranberryjuice and exited the Black Horse. He then drove for the Mental Hospital as he checked up on Matthias Schmidt's background and current base of operations on his laptop.

At the Mental Hospital he would ask the staff what precisely the condition of Barker was, and whether they ever noticed anything peculiar about him.

[Silent Hunter]

Jenna Goldsmith complied.
----
Matthias Schmidt, born in 1965, had been a soldier in the East German Volksarmee until German reunification in 1990.

He'd been charged with murder in 1992 and had fled the country. Interpol had a notice out on him. He was believed to be in the UK or Ireland.

He spoke fluent English and Russian, as well as his native German.

[Voshkod]

Remembering he was in a country that didn't believe in flexicuffs and their hygenic value, Ian pulled out his trusty old handcuffs. He snapped them on her wrists just a little too tight and pushed her down in the chair. "Please stay right there, ma'am, while we conduct a little search incident to arrest." He watched her eyes closely to see if they darted at any little cubby or hiding place.

[Silent Hunter]

Remembering he was in a country that didn't believe in flexicuffs and their hygenic value, Ian pulled out his trusty old handcuffs. He snapped them on her wrists just a little too tight and pushed her down in the chair. "Please stay right there, ma'am, while we conduct a little search incident to arrest." He watched her eyes closely to see if they darted at any little cubby or hiding place.

Her eyes darted nervously towards a drawer by the telephone.

She then kept her eyes on the two officers.

((Suggest you ask for transport and a cell at the nearest police station. Special Unit HQ doesn't have cells))

[MrEdwardNigma]

13:33
Dr. Cramer arrived at the Mental Hospital. There he asked the staff what precisely the condition of Barker was, and whether they ever noticed anything peculiar about him.

[Silent Hunter]

13:33
Dr. Cramer arrived at the Mental Hospital. There he asked the staff what precisely the condition of Barker was, and whether they ever noticed anything peculiar about him.

The staff, after some checking with the higher-ups, told him that Barker had been suffering from bi-polar disorder, also known as "manic depression" to the lay person. His use of LSD had been suspected, but not confirmed.

[Voshkod]

Ian leaned in close, close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek, smell the cigarettes. "Ma'am, we don't give a good goddamn about you, your drugs, or anything else. We have a murder. That's what we care about. You tell us everything, every bloody thing that might be important, and we try to make this easy on you. You don't and . . . ." He trailed off with a sneer and a shrug and opened the drawer she was looking at.

[Silent Hunter]

The drawer was full of a substance that looked rather like cannabis. Far more than anyone would ever need for personal use.

She noticed it too.

"It's for personal use", she replied.

[MrEdwardNigma]

13:40
After taking copies of Barker's files and questioning most of the staff and some patients at the clinic about him, Dr. Alvin Cramer returned to his car.

He pulled a mueslibar out of the glove compartiment and slowly chewed on it as he drove towards Barker's house. Dr. Alvin Cramer was one of those people who actually did chew the hundred required times on any type of food. In fact, he was probably the only one who did that.

14:02
Dr. Alvin Cramer arrived at Edward Barker's house and rang the doorbell.

[Silent Hunter]

Barker had not been particularly noteworthy at Barking Hospital, but he did some to have a nasty attitude towards certain staff members. His doctor, Dr Singh, had noted the man's attitude, but had never received any real racism from him.

There was no answer at the door. Cramer would need to contact the landlord.

[Voshkod]

"Personal use," Ian repeated, taking a small pinch of it and rubbing it between his fingers. "Ah, that's a fine smell, mon, ain't it," he said, in a mocking Jamaican accent. "Primo, mon. And a hell of a lot for personal use."

He walked back over to the woman. "You remember what I just said? Or are you too stoned to remember. You tell us everything, and this goes easy. You tell us nothing, and this goes very, very hard on you. Who's Roland? What's his number? What was Jomo doing, who was he selling to, and who wanted him dead?"

[Silent Hunter]

"I ain't telling you nothing. Not without a solicitor present. I know my rights".

With that she lapsed into silence.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:02
Alvin phoned the landlord.
"Hello, sir, this is Dr. Cramer, I'm with the special police. I would like access to the building Mr. Edward Barker was residing in. I assume you'll come down here and let me in? It's hardly worth having me get a warrant for"

[Voshkod]

Ian made a theatrical shrug. "You try to help some people . . . ." He flipped open his cell phone. "We need a Black Maria over here to pick up a body. Possession, possession with intent to distribute, she's a flight risk, maybe involved in a murder, so keep her shackled." He grinned at her.

"Gainsbourg, keep an eye on the woman while I search the place."

[Silent Hunter]

14:02
Alvin phoned the landlord.
"Hello, sir, this is Dr. Cramer, I'm with the special police. I would like access to the building Mr. Edward Barker was residing in. I assume you'll come down here and let me in? It's hardly worth having me get a warrant for"

"Ah, Special Unit", the landlord replied. "Sorry, why do you need to get in there?"

((He knows about the suicide in Barking, but the identity of the guy hasn't been released yet. Parents are being informed, but they're currently on a business trip in Scarborough)).

[Silent Hunter]

14:02
Alvin phoned the landlord.
"Hello, sir, this is Dr. Cramer, I'm with the special police. I would like access to the building Mr. Edward Barker was residing in. I assume you'll come down here and let me in? It's hardly worth having me get a warrant for"

"Ah, Special Unit", the landlord replied. "Sorry, why do you need to get in there? I guess it's about this morning."

He knew about the shootings, but the identities of the people hadn't been released yet. The parents were being informed, but they were currently in Scarborough on business.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Yes, it's horrible when these things happen. So, could you come over here as soon as possible?"

This guy knew something, Alvin knew that much, but he didn't venture more than a slight jab at the man on the phone. A very slight one. He probably wouldn't even notice, and that was all too well. It would be good to have the man with him so he couldn't simply hang up when asked questions. Alvin checked the battery of his stungun. The man might get dangerous when confronted with questions, and Alvin wasn't skilled enough with his gun to be confident he'd be able to defend himself. His fabulous eyesight made him a crack shot, but he always took way too much time when aiming.

Just to make sure he'd still have some trace of the landlord should he decide not to show up, Alvin ran a trace on his phone.

[Silent Hunter]

"Yeah, I'll be ten minutes", the landlord replied.

The trace showed him moving on his way to meet Dr. Cramer.

1415

The landlord arrived. He was a white man in his early 50s with a bald head and more fat than muscle.

He had a long bunch of keys on his belt.

"You Dr. Cramer? Can I see some ID? It's just security", he asked in a friendly manner.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:15
Dr. Cramer showed the man his ID. "Let's continue our little chat inside, shall we?"

[Voshkod]

"A Black Maria. Jesus, don't you all have any appreciation for history? Fine, just send a van around." He hangs up, continues his search.

[Hairb]

Luc waited until Ian had left the room, then flashed Ms. Goldsmith an apologetic shrug, a little embarrassed at Ian's heightened sense of drama when frustrated.

"If you are worried about these people that Jomo knew, witness protection arrangements can be made. We're looking for your help, not your arrest." he said.

[Silent Hunter]

14:15
Dr. Cramer showed the man his ID. "Let's continue our little chat inside, shall we?"

"Fine", the landlord said and opened the door to the communal apartment, then Barker's. His mouth dropped wide open and he crossed himself.

The small bedroom had two walls more or less covered with Nazi symbology. There was a Nazi flag, a large photograph of Adolf Hitler and some SS symbols present.

There was also a laptop and a lot of leaflets in boxes.

[Silent Hunter]

Luc waited until Ian had left the room, then flashed Ms. Goldsmith an apologetic shrug, a little embarrassed at Ian's heightened sense of drama when frustrated.

"If you are worried about these people that Jomo knew, witness protection arrangements can be made. We're looking for your help, not your arrest." he said.

She said nothing until the police van arrived ten minutes later. The officers put her inside and the van drove off towards Forest Gate police station.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:16
As Alvin carefully searched the appartement, he casually asked the landlord "I suppose you've never been in here before?"

[Silent Hunter]

14:16
As Alvin carefully searched the appartement, he casually asked the landlord "I suppose you've never been in here before?"

"No, I haven't. Never knew he was into all this. I wouldn't be. My girlfriend's Polish- her grandparents were killed at Auschwitz".

He looked like he needed a drink.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Does Alvin find anything during his search?))

14:16
"Did you know the man well? Do you, perhaps, know someone else that did?"

[Hairb]

Luc began a search of the apartment, keeping in mind that anything incriminating would doubtlessly be well hidden. Weapons, saleable quantities of drugs... anything that linked Jomo or his girlfriend to gang activity could help make sense of why Jomo died.
He struck up conversation with Ian while he searched.
"Well, what next. Let us let Goldsmith cool off a bit before we try to speak to her, hmmm? Let's try Barker's parents next."

[Silent Hunter]

((Does Alvin find anything during his search?))

14:16
"Did you know the man well? Do you, perhaps, know someone else that did?"

"Not really. He just paid his rent every month, on time".

Alvin found a bunch of ammunition for the Stechkin and also some combat manuals.
----
Luc found a gun as he searched the place. It was a Browning High Power. A very common weapon.

[Hairb]

"Hello..."

Luc used a biro to lift the pistol up.

"I wonder if his girlfriend knew about this?"

Luc went looking for an address book, mobile phone, computer or organiser. Knowing Jomo's associates could prove useful.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:16
"Ah. So it was a matter of coincidence you recognised the description on the news?"

((Is there an answering machine? An adress book? A PC? Some adress cards? A diary? A cellphone charger or other things belonging to a cellphone? Are there any used glasses around or other place that could have DNA or fingerprints (particularly of any guests, but also of Barker himself) ))

Alvin ran a blacklight across Barker's bed. He wanted to know if the man had been sleeping with anyone.

[Silent Hunter]

14:16
"Ah. So it was a matter of coincidence you recognised the description on the news?"

((Is there an answering machine? An adress book? A PC? Some adress cards? A diary? A cellphone charger or other things belonging to a cellphone? Are there any used glasses around or other place that could have DNA or fingerprints (particularly of any guests, but also of Barker himself) ))

Alvin ran a blacklight across Barker's bed. He wanted to know if the man had been sleeping with anyone.

"Yes, basically. He never showed a hint of this".

There was a laptop PC, switched off. No used glasses, but there are some prints on the leaflet boxes. There were no signs of sexual activity.

[Voshkod]

"They're all dirty, Gainsbourg, every last one of them. Let's get the evidence people in here to sweep the place and to see the Nazi plumber. This place makes me sick." Tattershall takes one more look around the place for anything that stands out.

[Silent Hunter]

"They're all dirty, Gainsbourg, every last one of them. Let's get the evidence people in here to sweep the place and to see the Nazi plumber. This place makes me sick." Tattershall takes one more look around the place for anything that stands out.

((Posting on previous two "Smith House" posts))

Gainsbourg found a mobile phone, but it had a PIN on it.

There was little else of note there.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((I assume all the landlord's data is known to Alvin? I mean, he did have to look up his name and phone number to call him, and perhaps he even came across his picutre? Is this the man in question? Does his age seem to match that of the landlord?))

14:17
Alvin switched on the PC (he's wearing his rubber gloves, prints and such are left in tact). As it booted up he started making copies of the prints (dusting them and taking pictures, once or twice taking a picture of the landlord while pretending to be looking through the pictures, flash off, of course).

"Bizarre that you would happen to recognise a description of a man you didn't know all that well. Off course, what was more bizarre was the fact that you turned on the news this morning and heard a description, while no information was released on the killings besides the fact that they had happened"

Alvin was facing the man now, gun drawn. For actual use he had the stungun in his other hand, hidden under his jacket. A real gun seemed more of a threat to most, and should a struggle ensue the man would not be expecting an attack with the other hand.

"It's probably best if you sit down, sir. I'm going to need to ask you some questions, most importantly how you knew mister Barker was involved in the shootings"

((I don't intend to have Alvin break any police rules, but as long as he reads the man his rights now, and he's put under suspicion of involvement in murder or something, this shouldn't be a problem, should it? Also, we didn't put out any descriptions, did we? Because if for some strange reason the descriptions were released but not the identities, Alvin would be messing up badly right about now))

[Silent Hunter]

((He knows the landlord's data from a search on the property. This is the real landlord.

Description was released when the shooting was announced earlier. Identities weren't, but enough was given for the guy to make a good guess. Continue with this, BTW. Might be interesting. You know the caution, right?))

The landlord was not used to having a weapon trained at him. He sat down anyway.

"I guessed, OK?", he replied, "I used to be a Red Cap".

He was referring to the Royal Military Police.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:17
"You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not now mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. You know this stuff"

Alvin was not used to arresting people, but he still knew the stuff quite well. Alvin leaned on the desk and relaxed somewhat, even though his gun was still trained at the landlord. Dr. Cramer wasn't a man of action and he didn't want to be caught off guard.

"A Red Cap, huh? What does that have to do with anything?"

Alvin could guess, but he wanted to hear this from the man himself.

[Hairb]

"You call the team," Luc said. "I'll drive."
He left the building, and sat in the front seat of the car, waiting for Ian to get in.

[Silent Hunter]

14:17
"You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not now mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. You know this stuff"

Alvin was not used to arresting people, but he still knew the stuff quite well. Alvin leaned on the desk and relaxed somewhat, even though his gun was still trained at the landlord. Dr. Cramer wasn't a man of action and he didn't want to be caught off guard.

"A Red Cap, huh? What does that have to do with anything?"

Alvin could guess, but he wanted to hear this from the man himself.

"I used to be a cop in the military. I figured out he was involved. He did look a bit aggressive at times".

The landlord kept his hands raised. He could disarm Cramer, but that would be stupid to attempt it.

[Voshkod]

Having called the evidence boys to toss the flat, Tattershall got in the car with Gainsbourg. "Squalid little case here, Gainsbourg. Drugs and thugs. Let's go see the plumber. I'm thinking we should mix up the old bad cop routine this time. I'll play Mr. Sympathetic to his politics, while you play the offended young Labour voter."

[Hairb]

Luc cracked what felt like the first smile in a long time. Hopefully, their next visit would run a little more smoothly.
"A cunning plan."
While en route, Luc put a question to Ian:
"Suppose Jomo was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, hmm? A target because of his race, his is slain on a whim by a disturbed racist. But, surely Jomo Smith was not the first black man to cross Barker's path that morning. And why wait so long before re-emerging at a toyshop of all places? If his suicide was meant to be a public act, why not do it at the station, in front of many more, with it all on camera?"
He paused for a moment while changing lanes.
"It would be a grave mistake to assume Edward Barker was acting purely at random. There must be a motive behind all this, bigger than Barker. And Smith too. I think we really need to give O'Reilly the third degree. Let's call Cramer and see if he's found anything new out about Barker."

[Voshkod]

Tattershall woke from his drowsiness. "What's that? 'course there are other possibilities here. Our shooter was stoned, right? Maybe our corpse was his dealer. Maybe our Nazi wants to take over the trade from the Yardies. Maybe our corpse crossed the Yardies. You start down these roads too early, you start sounding like Cramer. Let's get some more evidence first."

[Hairb]

"Of course, of course. We're almost here. Do you want to get the door, or will I?"

[Voshkod]

"Why don't you take the lead? You're the defender of all that is good and right, of course, protector of the innocent and the immigrant. I'm just your no-good partner."

[Hairb]

"Let's do this, then."
Luc fixed a steely, implacable look in his eyes. With his warrant card in one hand, he gave three short, loud knock on the door of the address they had been given.

[Silent Hunter]

The door was opened and a young woman, in her early twenties was revealed.

She was wearing a blue blouse and a skirt that was slightly too short to be proper. Her hair clearly had seen some peroxide, but not tjhat recently, judging by her dark roots. She was a white girl and she was moderately attractive. Except for the gum chewing.

"Yes?" she asked, like she really didn't care.

[Hairb]

"I'm DC Gainsbourg, this is DC Tattershall. We're from the GLPS Special Unit. We need to speak to David O'Reilly."
Luc did not drop his facade.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:17
"Why did you assume he was involved? I can't believe you thought that just because he seemed agressive"

((Dr. Cramer is smart enough to stay across the room from the landlord, he'd have to sprint towards him to disarm him, and even Cramer can react in that time))

[Silent Hunter]

14:17
"Why did you assume he was involved? I can't believe you thought that just because he seemed agressive"

((Dr. Cramer is smart enough to stay across the room from the landlord, he'd have to sprint towards him to disarm him, and even Cramer can react in that time))

"I guessed, alright?" the landlord replied, "Have you got any actual evidence that will stand up in court?"

[Silent Hunter]

"I'm DC Gainsbourg, this is DC Tattershall. We're from the GLPS Special Unit. We need to speak to David O'Reilly."
Luc did not drop his facade.

"Right", she replied, "I'll go get him".

She turned around and called out.

"Boss!"

Twenty seconds later David O'Reilly came out. He was a fat, balding man with a short-sleeved shirt and a dragon tattoo in his left arm. He was smoking a cigarette- illegal in an enclosed workplace.

"Can I help you, officers. I guess this is about the shooting this morning. They don't call out Special Unit for the three muggings we had last week".

[MrEdwardNigma]

"I guessed, alright?" the landlord replied, "Have you got any actual evidence that will stand up in court?"

Alvin sighed.
"We're not planning on charging you with anything, sir, we'd just like some help on the case. You'll be left unmentioned, I assure you, we just need to know all the details of this case. If you choose to be trouble though, we can always dig deeper. The Special Unit can cause a man a lot of trouble even if he is innocent. This is a one-time offer, sir, you tell us what we need to know, and we'll leave you alone"

[Silent Hunter]

"I don't know anything", the landlord replied, "that's the truth".

He showed no obvious signs of lying, but lying was difficult to spot even for experts, at least without a polygraph to hand.

[Voshkod]

Tattershall gave the woman an appraising glance as she turned. "Afternoon, Mr. O'Reilly. Hope you can help on this little matter. Hate to be a bother."

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:18
"Look, sir, there's plenty of people who look agressive in London. In fact, there's hardly any who don't. Linking that to the shootings immediately seems a far stretch, wouldn't you agree?"

[Silent Hunter]

14:18
"Look, sir, there's plenty of people who look agressive in London. In fact, there's hardly any who don't. Linking that to the shootings immediately seems a far stretch, wouldn't you agree?"

"It was a guess, OK?"

[Silent Hunter]

Tattershall gave the woman an appraising glance as she turned. "Afternoon, Mr. O'Reilly. Hope you can help on this little matter. Hate to be a bother."

The woman had a good looking backside.

O'Reilly continued to smoke.

"I don't know a thing about it. Why should I care if some drug dealer gets offed? If I was in charge he'd have danced the hemp fandango".

[Hairb]

Luc cut in, making it obvious that O'Reilly's thoughts on capital punishment were not in the least bit of interest to him.
"Mr O'Reilly, we have reason to believe that you knew a Mr Edward Barker. Is this correct?"

[Silent Hunter]

Luc cut in, making it obvious that O'Reilly's thoughts on capital punishment were not in the least bit of interest to him.
"Mr O'Reilly, we have reason to believe that you knew a Mr Edward Barker. Is this correct?"

"Yes, but how is that relevant?" O'Reilly replied.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:18
Dr. Cramer had the landlord brought in for questioning and did an extensive background check on him. Then he checked the PC that had belonged to Barker.

[Silent Hunter]

14:18
Dr. Cramer had the landlord brought in for questioning and did an extensive background check on him. Then he checked the PC that had belonged to Barker.

(The former is going to take a while, maybe four hours)

The PC looked like a Nazi meeting hall. It was filled with Nazi related video clips, music and pictures.

The main thing of interest was a series of emails from O'Reilly to Barker, all pertaining to Jomo. They referred, in racially loaded terms, to Barker removing a "waste of oxygen".

[MrEdwardNigma]

(The former is going to take a while, maybe four hours)

The PC looked like a Nazi meeting hall. It was filled with Nazi related video clips, music and pictures.

The main thing of interest was a series of emails from O'Reilly to Barker, all pertaining to Jomo. They referred, in racially loaded terms, to Barker removing a "waste of oxygen".

((Any more details on that? Like a name, a location, mission specifics, a reason?))

[Silent Hunter]

((Any more details on that? Like a name, a location, mission specifics, a reason?))

The emails only called him JS, but referenced his drug dealing and private detective reports on his routine. The hit was due to take place at Barking Station on that day at the time that the shooting took place.

The reason giving was that he was a drug dealer and it was time to get him off the street for good.

There was one odd thing. References to getting a "Russian thing" from an AS.

[Voshkod]

"Well, it's probably not, sir," Tattershall said apologetically. "But Barker had your card is his pocket, and we have to follow up all leads, even in a case like this, where someone's done us all a favor."

[Silent Hunter]

"Well, it's probably not, sir," Tattershall said apologetically. "But Barker had your card is his pocket, and we have to follow up all leads, even in a case like this, where someone's done us all a favor."

"He used to work for me, sure. Is he the guy who shot himself?"

O'Reilly looked impatient- and worried.

[MrEdwardNigma]

14:20
Dr. Cramer called Gainsbourg.
"Hello? Luc? This is Dr. Cramer. I'm just calling to let you know I found some interesting stuff in barker's appartment. Emails from O'Reilly ordering him to kill of Jomo. This is probably not enough proof to book the guy, but I thought you might like to know. Seems they knew all about Jomo, had him followed even. It makes me think visiting the club he worked at might be interesting. Someone might be able to ID his stalker"

[Hairb]

Luc ignored the question.
"How long did you know Mr Barker?"

[Hairb]

Before O'Reilly could answer, Luc took the call on his phone. Rude, officious, bean-counting Young Labour types would have done it, he mused to himself. Even if it was a wrong number, it would still help alienate O'Reilly.

After hearing Cramer's message, it took him several seconds to respond.

[Voshkod]

While Luc was on the phone, Tattershall continued. "Shot himself, but blew away a Yardie druggie before hand. Like I said, saved us a lot of trouble there. Now, sir, you don't know anything about this, do you? What's your relationship with Mr. Barker?"

[Hairb]

"Honey, that's wonderful! I have to go." Luc said joyfully, then hung up the phone, resuming his equally phony no-nonsense act. If O'Reilly thought he was off the hook, he wouldn't be prepared when they came for him with solid evidence. If Cramer thought the emails wouldn't stand up alone, then Luc had no intention of risking the investigation. As eccentric as he was, the man was often right.

Luc listened intently to the extremist's reply.

[Silent Hunter]

While Luc was on the phone, Tattershall continued. "Shot himself, but blew away a Yardie druggie before hand. Like I said, saved us a lot of trouble there. Now, sir, you don't know anything about this, do you? What's your relationship with Mr. Barker?"

"No, I don't know anything about it. Barker used to work for me, but I had to let him go. Kept being late".

[Hairb]

"Were you ever aware of any drug use on Mr Barker's behalf?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Were you ever aware of any drug use on Mr Barker's behalf?"

"No, I wasn't", O'Reilly replied, "Why are you asking me about a guy I no longer know?"

[Voshkod]

"Because the man's dead, sir, and that's what we do. Can we see his employment records? A simple thing, sir."

[Silent Hunter]

"Because the man's dead, sir, and that's what we do. Can we see his employment records? A simple thing, sir."

"I'll get them", he replied, "Would you mind just waiting a minute?"

O'Reilly was trying to look co-operative.

[Voshkod]

"Thank you, sir," Tattershall said, and began to follow him back.

[Silent Hunter]

"Thank you, sir," Tattershall said, and began to follow him back.

O'Reilly turned and walked back into the office. There was a large St George's flag on the wall and a bunch of plumbing-related posters.

He looked and saw Tattershall following him. Change of plan, he thought. Might as well prolong the inevitable...

O'Reilly suddenly grabbed the telephone off one of the desks and threw at Tattershall before running for the back entrance.

[Hairb]

Luc, who had been following behind Tattershall, ducked around him and took off after O'Reilly.

[Voshkod]

Old habits die hard. Ian ducked under the phone and pulled his Glock out in one smooth motion. He aimed it at O'Reilly's back and shouted in his battlefield voice, "Stop now or I will shoot you!"

[Silent Hunter]

O'Reilly hadn't been expecting that- he'd forgotten about Special Unit's firearms carrying.

He turned around and saw the Glock in Tattershall's hand.

He raised his hands.

[Voshkod]

"Get down on the ground. Keep your hands in view at all times." Tattershall voice had gone flat, and he kept the Glock aimed steadily at O'Reilly's head. "Sir, you're under arrest for assault on an officer of the law. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

[Hairb]

Luc got on the phone.
"We will need a van here immediately to take a suspect into custody" and gave them O'Reilly's address.
He moved up against a wall, keeping an eye on the room to ensure no overzealous employees tried to liberate their boss.
"We will also need to seize several large pieces of evidence, including computers. Get a team here quickly, please."
He hung up.

[Silent Hunter]

"Get down on the ground. Keep your hands in view at all times." Tattershall voice had gone flat, and he kept the Glock aimed steadily at O'Reilly's head. "Sir, you're under arrest for assault on an officer of the law. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

O'Reilly was laying flat on the ground, his arms outstretched. He looked rather unimpressed.

"I was put up to this!" he yelled.

[Voshkod]

"That's nice," Tattershall said as he snapped the cuffs on quite tight. "You can tell us all you know, and I'm sure the prosecutor will take that into account."

[Hairb]

"If you plan on doing anything to help your defence I would advise you start talking now, Mr O'Reilly. The evidence built up against you is beginning to look very impressive indeed."

[Silent Hunter]

"If you plan on doing anything to help your defence I would advise you start talking now, Mr O'Reilly. The evidence built up against you is beginning to look very impressive indeed."

"It was a Ukrainian guy. Aleksey Shevchenko. He told me about this guy".

[Hairb]

"This guy? You mean Jomo?"

[Silent Hunter]

"This guy? You mean Jomo?"

"The drug dealer, yes!"

[Hairb]

"What was in it for you?"

[Silent Hunter]

"What was in it for you?"

"Getting a no-good black drug dealer off the streets. He shouldn't be in this country".

[Hairb]

"How selfless of you! How much were you paid?"

[Silent Hunter]

"How selfless of you! How much were you paid?"

"Ten grand. Plus he gave me a Stechkin for free".

[Voshkod]

"Ten grand." Tattershall whistles. "Lot of money for little SOB like Jomo. Why did the Russian want him dead?"

[Silent Hunter]

"He's not Russian. He's Ukrainian. He said he was a concerned citizen. He's a friend of mine. The peoples of Europe have to unite, you know, against the Muslim threat".

[Hairb]

"Where's he get the money from for things like this? Stechkins don't just grow on trees."

[Silent Hunter]

"Where's he get the money from for things like this? Stechkins don't just grow on trees."

"He's a businessman. Ask no questions, get no lies"

O'Reilly snapped back into his unpleasant self.

"You pigs going to take me down the nick now?"

[Voshkod]

"Why yes, I think we'll get right on that." Tattershall led him out to the van. "We'd better report in," he said to Luc. "Things are moving pretty quickly here."

[Hairb]

Luc rang DCI Carlton.
"We've just arrested O'Reilly for assaulting Ian, and we can charge him for calling the hit on Jomo Smith. He says he was commissioned by a Ukranian businessman named Aleksey Shevchenko and got 10 thousand pounds and a free handgun for his troubles. We're bringing him in now. Let Alvin and the others know."

[Silent Hunter]

Luc rang DCI Carlton.
"We've just arrested O'Reilly for assaulting Ian, and we can charge him for calling the hit on Jomo Smith. He says he was commissioned by a Ukranian businessman named Aleksey Shevchenko and got 10 thousand pounds and a free handgun for his troubles. We're bringing him in now. Let Alvin and the others know."

"Got it", Carlton replied, "Nice work. I'll run the search on Shevchenko".

She contacted the others (OOC: They've been doing other stuff) and Alvin to tell them of the news then did a search for Shevchenko.

[Hairb]

Luc went off to find any employees and ensure that they were not tampering with what was now a crime scene.

[MrEdwardNigma]

15:00
The landlord had been picked up for questioning but hadn't been charged with anything and Alvin had spent his time in Barker's appartment by going through his computer and searching the appartment thoroughly. He then took the hard drive out of the PC as he was going to have the computer lab restore whatever Barker had been deleting. With any luck they'd find more evidence, and you could never have enough evidence.

Dr. Cramer then got back in his car and drove off to see the arms dealer ((supposing we know his whereabouts/ registered adress)). On the way there he looked up Aleksey Shevchenko. He seemed to be the guy they were going to have to arrest sometime soon. It seems somehow bizarre for an Ukranian to order a Russian to commit a hatecrime though, doesn't it?

[Silent Hunter]

15:00
The landlord had been picked up for questioning but hadn't been charged with anything and Alvin had spent his time in Barker's appartment by going through his computer and searching the appartment thoroughly. He then took the hard drive out of the PC as he was going to have the computer lab restore whatever Barker had been deleting. With any luck they'd find more evidence, and you could never have enough evidence.

Dr. Cramer then got back in his car and drove off to see the arms dealer ((supposing we know his whereabouts/ registered adress)). On the way there he looked up Aleksey Shevchenko. He seemed to be the guy they were going to have to arrest sometime soon. It seems somehow bizarre for an Ukrainian to order a Russian to commit a hatecrime though, doesn't it?

Schmidt's registered address was in Pimlico, south of the Thames. He was on the electoral roll as EU citizens could vote in local and European elections.

Shevchenko, 54, was an ethnic Russian, originally from Eastern Ukraine. A former nuclear submariner in the Soviet Navy (his personnel file said he'd served in the Delfin/"Delta IV" class), he'd left the country and moved to the UK, where he'd set up a temp agency.

There were no convictions, but he was suspected of involvement in a large theft of weaponry from an armoury in Ukraine in 1993.

The sweep team had found the telephone and were analysing the calls. Most had been from O'Reilly.

[Voshkod]

Ian called in to DCI Carlton. "Ma'am, this is getting pretty deep now. We have a possibility of some serious hard men involved. Recommend you call everyone in for a sit-down before we proceed. Also, we may want to ask our friends at Vauxhall Cross if they know anything?"

[Silent Hunter]

Ian called in to DCI Carlton. "Ma'am, this is getting pretty deep now. We have a possibility of some serious hard men involved. Recommend you call everyone in for a sit-down before we proceed. Also, we may want to ask our friends at Vauxhall Cross if they know anything?"

"That's a very good idea", Carlton replied,"I'll call Six, but getting stuff from them is like getting blood from a stone".

She texted Cramer to tell him of this.
----
There were no other employees present at the crime scene.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Cramer decided to put off going to the armsdealer. Meeting with the other guys seemed like a good idea. He stopped on the way back to have lunch. To Cramer lunch meant having a single sandwich with a salad, but it still took him quite a while. Cramer tended to take his time for everything.

16:12
Cramer finally arrived at the meetup at about a quarter past four.

[Voshkod]

"Let's go, Gainsbourg, the lady wants us all back to talk about next steps." Ian got in the car. "The locals can handle securing the scene, and we've got time for a curry on the way. There's this grotty little place that serves the spiciest vindaloo this side of Peshewar nearby."

[Hairb]

"Let's go, Gainsbourg, the lady wants us all back to talk about next steps." Ian got in the car. "The locals can handle securing the scene, and we've got time for a curry on the way. There's this grotty little place that serves the spiciest vindaloo this side of Peshewar nearby."

"Sounds good."
He headed for the car.

[Silent Hunter]

Cramer decided to put off going to the armsdealer. Meeting with the other guys seemed like a good idea. He stopped on the way back to have lunch. To Cramer lunch meant having a single sandwich with a salad, but it still took him quite a while. Cramer tended to take his time for everything.

16:12
Cramer finally arrived at the meetup at about a quarter past four.

Carlton and the others were waiting there.

Carlton saw Cramer and came over to him.

"We're waiting for the others, but I've got some intel on Protect Europe from our colleagues in Berlin", she said.

[MrEdwardNigma]

16:12
"Wonderful. Tell me all about it. You know how I like the details!"

[Hairb]

"Details about what?" Luc stepped through the door. "Sorry to keep you."

[Silent Hunter]

"Protect Europe", Carlton replied. She headed over to the computer and put up what was the hold screen for the video-conferencing system.

Waiting for Ian to take his seat, she then started to talk.

"Our pals in Berlin", she started, "have been monitoring this group for some time with growing alarm. I'll let Major Schlussel fill you all in".

She pressed some buttons and the image of a middle-aged woman with short black hair appeared. She had a dark coloured suit on.

She was Polizeiratin Emilia Schlussel, head of the Berlin equivalent of Special Unit.

"Afternoon", she said in good English, but with a pronounced accent, "I was worried this was going to happen at some point.

Protect Europe, to give it its English name, is the most worrying event in the far-right movement for years. The Nazi groups of Europe are starting to ally together against what they perceive to be a common threat- Muslims. And not just the ones who are actually militant".

[Voshkod]

"And here I thought we beat the Nazis in 1945," Tattershall muttered (perhaps loud enough to be overheard). "Just the Germans to never stay down."

A bit louder. "And what have you all been doing about? What sort of actions have they been taking?"

[Silent Hunter]

The German officer heard Ian's remark, but ignored it. She responded to his second post.

"We've been monitoring things, making a couple of arrests.

Mostly it's just been internet discussions and meetings, plus some petty vandalism. This would be the first murder they've committed.

The movement appears to be fraught with internal differences, but they're working them out- a bit quickly for our liking".

[Hairb]

"What's their policy on drugs? Would they ever let a user like Barker into their movement?"

[Silent Hunter]

"What's their policy on drugs? Would they ever let a user like Barker into their movement?"

"I don't honestly know. I doubt it".

[Hairb]

"How tightly knit is this organisation? Could the order to kill somebody have come from some sort of..." Luc shrugged, trying to think of the word he wanted. "...High Command?"

[Voshkod]

"You mean oberkommando, I think," Tattershall said quietly. "Any sign they've cozied up to the Russians?"

[Silent Hunter]

"You mean oberkommando, I think," Tattershall said quietly. "Any sign they've cozied up to the Russians?"

"Yes, there is", Schlussel replied, "There are plenty of far-right groups in Russia and the former Soviet Union interested in this grouping. Thing is, the Western European groups are showing some resistance to it.

As for tight-knit, we don't fully know. There are no clear leadership figures, except some anonymous guy known only as The Leader's Successor".

She spat out the last words. Schlussel had lost relatives to the Nazis in the war and her great-uncle had been in the SS, which was a matter of shame for the family.

[Hairb]

"Any idea where this Sucessor operates out of?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Any idea where this Sucessor operates out of?"

"Maybe Western Europe, but that's a massive area".

[Hairb]

Luc made a sour face.
"I suppose that if they're still unassociated with violence and murder, looking at links with arms dealers wouldn't be helpful. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?"

[Silent Hunter]

Luc made a sour face.
"I suppose that if they're still unassociated with violence and murder, looking at links with arms dealers wouldn't be helpful. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?"

"I'd say it would be very helpful. They may well be arming to 'take offensive action', so to speak and I think some of them would appreciate the irony in Muslims being killed by 'Muslim' weapons".

At that point Carlton got a message and read it.

"We've located Shevchenko", she said, "Good news and bad news. He left the country on a plane from London City Airport at 11am this afternoon, heading for Ukraine, where we can't extradite him from due to Ukrainian law. However, Kiev's version of Special Unit have apparently made a solid case on him for the weapons theft and arrested him on landing".

[MrEdwardNigma]

"I'd say it would be very helpful. They may well be arming to 'take offensive action', so to speak and I think some of them would appreciate the irony in Muslims being killed by 'Muslim' weapons".

At that point Carlton got a message and read it.

"We've located Shevchenko", she said, "Good news and bad news. He left the country on a plane from London City Airport at 11am this afternoon, heading for Ukraine, where we can't extradite him from due to Ukrainian law. However, Kiev's version of Special Unit have apparently made a solid case on him for the weapons theft and arrested him on landing".

"Are you saying we're going to have to work together with Kiev?"

Dr. Cramer frowned.

"Oh, dear, I've never seen that go well..."

[Voshkod]

"We should get over and search the Russian's place soon," Ian said.

[Silent Hunter]

"We should get over and search the Russian's place soon," Ian said.

"I'll send someone over to do that. I need you and Luc to interview O'Reilly. Make this case water-tight".

She turned to Cramer and Emilia.

"Tell me about it. Last time we went to Kiev, three of us got hit on by one of their officers".

[Voshkod]

"Bet she wouldn't have to leave London for that to happen," Tattershall whispered to Gainsbourg as they left to interview O'Reilly.

[Silent Hunter]

1703

The two officers arrived at Barking Police Station, where O'Reilly was being held.

His lawyer, a slick type who Special Unit knew well, was waiting at the custody desk. She was a semi-attractive white redhead, in an expensive suit.

[Hairb]

Luc gave the standard introduction for the benefit of the recording device: names, dates, times and so on.
"Well, Mr O'Reilly, I imagine you know why you are here."
He paused.
"At the time of your arrest, you stated that you had organised the murder of Jomo Smith by a Mr Edward Barker, now deceased. You claimed you had been commissioned to do so by one Aleksey Shevchenko. Was this the case?"

[Silent Hunter]

Luc gave the standard introduction for the benefit of the recording device: names, dates, times and so on.
"Well, Mr O'Reilly, I imagine you know why you are here."
He paused.
"At the time of your arrest, you stated that you had organised the murder of Jomo Smith by a Mr Edward Barker, now deceased. You claimed you had been commissioned to do so by one Aleksey Shevchenko. Was this the case?"

O'Reilly gave a quick look, smiled, then said,

"No comment".

[Voshkod]

Ian smiled, and it was not a nice smile. "We've got the e-mails, O'Reilly. We've got the gun. We'll have the money soon enough. We've got an assault on an officer. We can put you away for a very, very, long time already, away in a nice, dark cell with all those nice people you love so much, Yardies and Pakis. Or, just maybe, you work with us, help us get Shevchenko - who is a hell of a lot more important than you, to be blunt - and you get a much lighter sentence."

He turned to the attorney. "Sorry you got stuck with this pile of crap, dear. See if you can convince him to come around, eh? We've got two cops and another witness who heard him confess to the whole thing. I'll give you two five minutes to talk about it, eh?"

[Silent Hunter]

The solicitor and O'Reilly had a brief discussion.

When the two officers returned, O'Reilly was smiling.

"My client has informed me that the confession was made under duress and he intends to file a complaint", the solicitor said.

[MrEdwardNigma]

The solicitor and O'Reilly had a brief discussion.

When the two officers returned, O'Reilly was smiling.

"My client has informed me that the confession was made under duress and he intends to file a complaint", the solicitor said.

((Okay, that's it. Police brutality, now!))

[Voshkod]

Ian laughs. "I knew your client was a Nazi, sweetie, but I didn't know he was a comedian. We have at least one witness, and I know you've checked our records, and Luc here is clean, he's a real sweetheart. He wants to go down that route, it's his hide. But make sure he understands this, ma'am. A man's dead, and society wants to punish someone. The shooter's dead, the paymaster's fled, which leaves our little old Nazi plumber's ass as the only one hanging out. So I'd strongly recommend he reconsider. I'm sure a deal can be cut, and if he's afraid of something, we'll give him protection. But only if he cooperates. Otherwise, since he assaulted an officer, we'll ask for him to be moved to maximum security while he awaits trial. His choice, sweetie, but you should help him make it."

[Silent Hunter]

O'Reilly thought about this for a second.

"I am not a Nazi. I am a patriot. Unlike you".

[Silent Hunter]

1815

Cramer was sitting in the office when he got a telephone call. The background check on the landlord had found nothing bar a parking ticket.

Carlton came over to him. She smiled.

"Do you want to go home now and come back tomorrow?"

[Voshkod]

"Oh, a patriot is it? A patriot who doesn't have the spine to stand up for what he believes, has to hire some poor stupid kid to do it?" Tattershall leans forward. "Listen, my son, a patriot has the stones to stand up for what he believes, he doesn't hide behind lawyers and technicalities. A patriot believes his cause is worth a bit of pain. You're not a patriot. Hell, you're not even a Nazi, they at least had some courage." Ian spits on the floor. "You're just another racist coward who likes hurting black people. Your type is a dime a dozen, O'Reilly."

[Hairb]

"If you think you can bamboozle the court with this phony complaint, you are gravely mistaken, Mr O'Reilly."

[MrEdwardNigma]

1815

Cramer was sitting in the office when he got a telephone call. The background check on the landlord had found nothing bar a parking ticket.

Carlton came over to him. She smiled.

"Do you want to go home now and come back tomorrow?"

"That's all right, Carlton, I still have some work to do. I don't sleep that much lately anyways. Could you make sure they let the landlord go? I have no further questions for him, and it seems he simply knew about Barker being the killer due to a ridiculously lucky guess, however unlikely that may seem"

Alvin went back to his car and drove off to the arms dealer.

[Silent Hunter]

"If you think you can bamboozle the court with this phony complaint, you are gravely mistaken, Mr O'Reilly."

The solicitor responded.

"Can you actually confront my client with the evidence rather than make cheap shots?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

18:19
As Cramer drove off, he thought of two things: first of all it was probably not wise for him to walk into an arms dealer's shop and accuse him of anything (or worse, try to arrest him) all by himself. In addition to that, the poor shop clerk was still waiting to be questioned in the police office. Since no-one else seemed to be handling that and the visiting the arms dealer would be too dangerous anyways, Cramer headed down to the police office.

19:01
Driving anywhere in London took long, even at this hour. Cramer got out of the car and went to the room where he would be questioning the clerk. He'd called in advance on his way there, and the man would be waiting for him. On his way in, Cramer sent a quick text asking for a search warrant of Smidt's property to be sent to the office so he could pick it up when he was ready.

He entered the room for questioning.

"Sorry to have kept you this long, sir. I'm not normally the man that handles this, but I imagine you would like to get this over with and go home. It's been a hard day on all of us, after all. I'll just start, shall I?"
Cramer walked over to the table, sat down and turned on his recorder. he knew they were recording what happened in this room, but he preferred to have his own copy at hand anyways.

"So, without leaving out any details, what happened this morning? Please take your time, you'll be off the hook much faster if you just give me the complete version the first time through"

[Silent Hunter]

18:19
"So, without leaving out any details, what happened this morning? Please take your time, you'll be off the hook much faster if you just give me the complete version the first time through"

"I'd just opened up the toy shop for another day. I'd served a couple of customers, then this skinhead comes in and points a gun at me. I hit the silent alarm straight away.

Then he starts ranting. He's talking about how Indians have ruined his country, taken his jobs, blown up his city and prevented him from getting a council flat. Most of it was really hard to follow.

You lot arrive, then he blows his brains out.

Oh, he did mention a Clarissa".

[MrEdwardNigma]

"I'd just opened up the toy shop for another day. I'd served a couple of customers, then this skinhead comes in and points a gun at me. I hit the silent alarm straight away.

Then he starts ranting. He's talking about how Indians have ruined his country, taken his jobs, blown up his city and prevented him from getting a council flat. Most of it was really hard to follow.

You lot arrive, then he blows his brains out.

Oh, he did mention a Clarissa".

"Hmmm, can you remember exactly what he said? About everything I mean, including this Clarissa. Oh, and did he take anything from the shop? Were there any other customers?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Hmmm, can you remember exactly what he said? About everything I mean, including this Clarissa. Oh, and did he take anything from the shop? Were there any other customers?"

"Not exactly no. He did say he'd killed Clarissa though, now I think of it.

He took nothing from the shop and there was only one other customer. A young woman, in her thirties".

[Voshkod]

The solicitor responded.

"Can you actually confront my client with the evidence rather than make cheap shots?"

"That's not my job, sweetie." Ian sat down across from O'Reilly. "All right, my son, here's the deal. I'm going out of here to write up a charge sheet. Murder, conspiracy to murder, possession of an illegal weapon, assault on an officer, attempted murder of an officer. I'll ask you be remanded to maxiumum security prison before your trial. Writing all that up is going to take me about ten minutes. When I come back in, you're going to tell me if you'll help us nail the Ukrainian. If you do, I forget all about your attempt to kill me, and I send in a charge sheet with conspiracy and the weapons charge only, and I ask you be held in local custody. So, choose wisely, because if you don't, the last sight you see of the sky and sun will be when they shove you in the prison van, my son."

Tattershall stood and walked ou.

[Hairb]

Gainsbourg followed him out of the room.
"Do you think he'll cave in?"

[Voshkod]

"Not sure," Ian said. "He clammed up pretty fast when he got his lawyer. Either she's telling him to shut up, or she's working him over for the Ukrainian. One way to find out." He flipped the switch activating the recorders.

[OOC: That's assuming UK rooms have recorders as most US ones do.]

[Silent Hunter]

"Not sure," Ian said. "He clammed up pretty fast when he got his lawyer. Either she's telling him to shut up, or she's working him over for the Ukrainian. One way to find out." He flipped the switch activating the recorders.

[OOC: That's assuming UK rooms have recorders as most US ones do.]

[OOC: Yes, they do, but I don't know how admissible this is going to be in court]

The solicitor was talking.

"Look, O'Reilly, I don't think that you'll be able to avoid naming names once you end up in Belmarsh. You admit to this, they stick you in the Scrubs, but I doubt that. There is an alternative. We can ensure that you never talk".

[Voshkod]

[OOC: Totally inadmissable and likely to get us in trouble. But Tattershall does break a rules on occasion.]

". . . ensure you never talk?" Ian blinked. "That sound like a threat to you, Gainsbourg?" He watched the two of them very carefully, ready to intervene - and ready to switch off the sound if anyone comes near.