First Case: Gary

Over the last two weeks, there have been two murders. One of the victims was Patricia Wood, a 35 year old house wife and mother of a 2 year old boy. Her husband, David, works at an automobile plant that used to manufacture SUVs. Many of the work is done overseas, yet he has maintained his job - a feat all of its own, perhaps. The second murder was of a six year old girl and recieved a great deal of media attention. The child, Ashley Merriman, was abducted from a play ground while her mother sat nearby. No one witnessed the abduction. The child's body was discovered at the same play ground, presumably dumped at around 4 A. M. the following day. Young Ashley was found three days ago. There is considerable interest at VASCU about this being a serial killer...
fsoderqvist: Is the Modus Operandi the same?

Storyteller The M.O. is at the moment, unknown. As the wife and child seem to be innocent of any wrong doing, the assumption is that someone has targeted David Wood and Gloria and Daniel Merriman, Ashley's parents. No one has narrowed down how they are connected yet. You have been sent some files on what the Merriman's do for a living, which could be a place to start.

Gary shuffle off of the couch in his slightly rundown, temporary appartment. He gets a second cup of coffee from his machine, and flips through his files a second time.

Ashley Merriman he thinks to himself. What would anyone have against poor little Ashley? He stops himself in his thoughts. He had done the mistake of trying to understand the thought patterns of serial killers and slashers before, and that is nothing but a dark path to walk down.

He decides to leave the appartment to head over to the Merriman's. He walks by a newsstand and picks up a paper before heading down the stair to the closest subway station, after which he heads over to their house. While waiting in the train-car, he distractedly skims through the articles, not even paying attention to what he is reading.

When he arrives at the closest station, he looks at the scribbled down note with the Merrimans' adress, and the little list of direction he wrote down for himself. He walks over to the house.

Seryna: As you approach the household, the door is opened by an over weight blonde woman. Her eyes are red with crying and she wears a slightly faded Christmas sweater with a cheery snowman that looked out of place. After introductions, you learn that she is Gloria's sister. At hearing your credentials, she leads you into the kitchen. A tall, lean man with salt and pepper hair sits at the table, staring at a cup that has long ago stopped steaming. A trim blonde woman standing at the stove turns at your arrival. As her sister introduces you, she brightens. "The police have a lead?"
fsoderqvist: Gary looks with understanding eyes at the mourning family, and shakes Gloria's hand. "We're not quite there, but the FBI are getting interested, so hopefully it's not that far away."
Seryna: 'Oh." Gloria looked dissapointed. "How can I help you, agent? What are you looking for?"
fsoderqvist: After eyeing across teh kitchen for a while, getting a feel of the room, he returns his gaze back to Gloria. "If I've understood matters correctly, you were there personally at time when your daughter dissapeared. I would like to hear your witness-account first hand."
Seryna: Gloria haltingly explained what had happened that terrible day three days ago. She and her daughter had walked to the playground from this very house. A friend from church had come to sit by Gloria - and she had taken her eyes off of her child for a minute. When she looked back, her child was gone. She recounted a terrible, frightening ordeal of checking the whole playground, but she hadn't seen her daughter again. She specifically points out. "I didn't see any wierd child molesting freaks. I'm very careful about stuff like that." She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's like she just vanished"
fsoderqvist: Gary frowns considerably and seems to think for a while. "It's usually not the freaks. They're too easy to predict. Don't worry, Gloria, we'll figure this out. There will be justice."
fsoderqvist: Gary excuses himself and steps outside to make a phonecall. He phones up associate (What was the name of the male partner again?)
Seryna: Edgar Oleana
fsoderqvist: He phones up his associate, Officer Oleana.
Seryna: "Whats up, man." On Oleana's side, you hear the hum of the office medly.
fsoderqvist: "Hey Edgar. I'm working the Wood- and Merriman-case, and the witness account says that her daughter, quote -just vanished- unquote. She looked away for half a minute. Do we know of any earlier cases where people have vanished freakishly quickly?"
Seryna: "Just a sec-" Theres a pause and you hear Olena yell at another person in the office. "O.K. Here we go. In the Detroit area, some guy at an Automobile plant, two days ago. Said one day he was walking into work, then he woke up in some spooky ass house. Said this deranged woman was questioning him- about someone named Merriman. Could be connected."

fsoderqvist: Gary is at first startled by the information. "Patricia Wood's husband worked at an automobile plant. She's another victim from not too long ago. So if he dissapeared, and actually lived, he must be ripe for questioning. Thanks a lot Ed. "
Seryna: "No problem. Catch you later."
fsoderqvist: Gary hangs up, and heads back into the house. He peeks into the kitchen. "I have to go, thanks a lot for your assistance. We will be in touch when we have results." He quickly heads out the door, more out of habit of being in a hurry, than of actually being stressed.
Seryna: The family nods after you, consumed in thier own feelings of grief to respond. As you head outside, you have to wonder how all of these dissapearances are connected to one another. At least two had happened at the automobile plant..
fsoderqvist: ((Wait, two of them was at the plant? I thought Patricia had dissapeared from some other place))
Seryna: [No- at the plant...]
fsoderqvist: [Oh, yeah you didn't say that. The first post just said that Patricia had dissapeared, and that her husband worked at the plant]
Seryna: [Yes. Thats new info just discovered now..]
fsoderqvist: [Okay, I took what Edgar said as, that the husband had just dissapeared.]
fsoderqvist: [But okay, Patty dissapeared from there too.]
fsoderqvist: A lot of thoughts are passing through Gary's head. He has two leads to follow up on, David Wood, and the plant. He decides to start with David. He takes the bus back to his appartment and looks up his address in the file on his desk, after which he heads over there. He takes a cap and pays by telling them to charge it to his agency.
Seryna: David and Patricia's home is modest in a fair nieghborhood. As you arrive, you see a blonde woman pushing a baby carriage wave to you as she walks by. A curtain from the Wood home flutters, revealing a pale face staring out at you before he dissapeared within the house. Behind you, the cab pulls away, already hurtling towards his next fare.
fsoderqvist: Gary flinches slightly as he heads up the paved walkway. He knocks on the door, already expecting to not have a responce.
Seryna: Gary's experience has taught him well. The unnatural silence from within lends to the idea that Mr. Wood is working very hard at ignoring him. Glancing around, you can see a concerned nieghbor woman leaning over her rosebushes, staring at you. She looks away as you make eye contact,
fsoderqvist: Gary braces himself slightly and looks appologetically at the woman across the bushes. He raises his voice and yells "Mr: Woods! This is the FBI! I know you're in there! Open up!"
Seryna: There's a long beat of silence. After a moment, the front door lurches open. Mr Woods - a tall, athletic man who you imagine once cut an impressive figure- glares out at you. He wears a tatty blue robe and has at least three days of stubble. Horrendous smells of body ordor and unbrushed teeth waffe out at you as he barks. "Whaddya what?"
fsoderqvist: Gary whinces at the smell, but then reaches into his pocket and takes out his badge. "FBI. I'm here to ask some questions about your wife and yourself. Can I come in?"
Seryna: The man leans forward and leers at the bade. He draws himself up, stares at you- and turns and walks into the house. The door is left standing open. Looking after him, you see he has walked into a kitchen that is littered with newspapers across the table and numerous unwashed coffee cups lining the sink.
fsoderqvist: Gary follows the man into the kitchen. He throws a glance at the table, but then takes a harder look. Are the newspapers lined up in an organized manner, or just scattered out of neglect? He looks at David. "Yeah I'm Officer Goedken. I'm here to ask a few questions about what happened to you a few days ago. Can you tell me exactly what happened at the plant?"
Seryna: The newspapers are carefully lined up - some circled in red pen. And the dates are not concurrent. It look as though he gathers specific papers. One on top is dated three weeks ago - its head line 'car crash kills family.' The man stares at you blearily, taking a seat at the table. "What do you want to know? My wife was abducted by some sicko. Then like..two days ago.. my plant manager was abducted and tortured by some sicko. Sicko let him go, though." The man sounded bitter. "But Harry had mentioned Merriman, so- you heard about the Merriman girl?"
fsoderqvist: Gary looks at the papers while listening to David. "Yes I actually just came from their place. I can tell that you've started putting two and two together yourself, too." Gary flips through some of the articles. "Do you know if your plant-manager had any enemies? Did he make any un-popular decisions, or something like that?"
Seryna: "Yeah. It was terrible. Nearly had to have a recall." he reached into the papers, drawing out the oldest one. "Here. The brakes on a SUV failed and the driver took out an All American Family, all except for the mom. Now thats a fucking tragedy." He exhales. "The manager squashed the investigation being exposed to the press. It was all internal. We held our breath, praying another set of brakes from our SUV didnt crap out."
fsoderqvist: Gary scratches his forehead, and looks at the man. "You seem to have done quite some detective-work. Since you seem to be kinda into this case, why do you think your wife was abducted? Did she have anyone to be worried about?"
Seryna: "I've had nothing but time. I can't think of anything but Patti..." He rubs his eyes. "Patti was an angel. I'm serious. She searched out our son's elusive daycare pre school while she was still pregnant."
fsoderqvist: Flinching a little, the agent looks around the kitchen and out into the hall a little. "You have a son?"
Seryna: "Yes. Danny." The man brightened momentarily, before his eyes blurred with tears that he had to rub away. "Little guy is at my mother's. I just can't bear to see him right now."
fsoderqvist: "That sounds good for him. If you have any more information that might help in our investigation, please share it with me, either now or on this phonenumber." Gary reaches into his wallet and gives David one of his cards.
fsoderqvist: "Is there anything more you want to tell me?" [Could this be a good time to use "Just one more thing? If so, Gary uses it.]
Seryna: [indeed!]
fsoderqvist: http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=d23334f6
Seryna: The man sets your card on the table, with the rest of his frenzied research. "Ah... it might not mean anything. But there has been this terrible sense that someone's...watching me. Its why Danny's at my mother's. Either I'm being watched or I'm going crazy, and either one isn't good for a boy his age."
fsoderqvist: Gary grunts and smiles nervously, as he forces himself through the intense head-aches his psychic abilites always bring him. ".....I see. That's very helpful, sir. I must go now, I will return when I have results or more questions."
fsoderqvist: He walks out of the house, and well out on the curb, he stares at the sky.
Seryna: The man nods quietly, staring back down at his papers as you depart.
fsoderqvist: Calling a cab, Gary decides to check out this automobile plant. But not before lunch. When the cab comes, he directs it to a sandwhich place he found the other day, and picks up two of his favorite ham- and pepperoni-sandwhiches, and then heads over to the spot.
Seryna: [spot..?]
fsoderqvist: [The automobile-plant, sorry for not being clear
Seryna: [excelelnt!]
Seryna: Gary finds the plant in the industrial area of town. Detroit has seen better days - represented by nurmous warehouses and plants that stand empty. Its a sad sign of the recession that slowly is griping the nation. The automobile plant is one of the few humming with activity and so Gary has no problem finding it. He sees a pretty receptionist in the lobby - the small, cramped lobby. Behind the double swinging doors, you imagine every inch is occupied by heavy operating machinery. The woman is currently speaking on the phone.
fsoderqvist: Gary waits for the woman to finish the phone-call, and then pulls out his badge and says: "Excuse me. Agent Goedken, I'm looking to see the manager."
Seryna: "Oh, I'm Hillary. Just a second." The woman makes a call, informing the manager of your arrival. After a moment, a tall, lean man with a bad tell tale smoker lines approaches the reception area. As he approaches, you see that he has a contusion on his head. "Agent." He extends his hand, revealing still - healing marks that whisper of bondage. "Are you here about poor Patti and what happened to me?"
fsoderqvist: "Correct, sir" Gary remarks clearly. "Can we speak somewhere in private?"
Seryna: "My office." The man turns and leads you away from the lobby to another door. His office is modest- a fake plant, a well appointed desk and chair for a guest. He gestures for you to sit. "I hope you have made some progress."
fsoderqvist: Gary nods politely at him, while looking at the name sign on is desk, realising that he didn't know the manager's name. "We're about to, but unfortunately, you're sitting on some major clues yourself. I'm going to need a detailed desctiption about what exactly you experienced."

The plant manager's name plate read Jack Cox. the man unbottoned his jacket and sat down, looking surprised.

"Well, I already told the police all that I know. I arrived here at 7 A. M. Someone came ip behind me and asked me something. I still can't remember what.

Then I wake up blind folded and tied to a chair. It seemed like ages... the freak kept asking about the plant. About cars. Even about-" He lowered his voice. "That father and son that were killed. I said that Merriman said he'd handle it, and then I was tossed out on my ass.

When I got the blindfold off, I was in the McDonald's parking lot. He sat back, dabbing at his forehead. "I feel like shit about that Merriman girl. Such a young girl.."

He looked agonized.

Over the last two weeks, there have been two murders. One of the victims was Patricia Wood, a 35 year old house wife and mother of a 2 year old boy. Her husband, David, works at an automobile plant that used to manufacture SUVs. Many of the work is done overseas, yet he has maintained his job - a feat all of its own, perhaps.

This hit a blog you frequent with a 'what are the odds some house wife gets abducted and bagged. What were those two guys who picked up a lady at a grocery store? Round them up!'

One of the comments pegged the blogs remarks as 'insensitive. That's somebody's mother. Bet it has something to do with the husband. Tell me you don't know three unemployed guys bitching about the guy who has work.'

*Chris decides to give his Police Contact a call when he reads about this. "Hey its Chris, do you know anything about these murders that are being reported. Patricia Wood is the name I got.
http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=8f26b1d0

"Oh, yeah. Talk of the town around here. Hang on, there's another..." You wait on the phone for a minute.
'Here - real sad situation. second murder was of a six year old girl and recieved a great deal of media attention. The child, Ashley Merriman, was abducted from a play ground while her mother sat nearby. No one witnessed the abduction. The child's body was discovered at the same play ground, presumably dumped at around 4 A. M. the following day."

Chris: "So you think ther murders are connected?"

"Hell yeah. Here's the wierd thing. Wood's plant manager was abducted after Wood was killed. Guy was held for like five hours before he was let go. Says whoever had him blindfolded him - but kept asking about who had squashed the news story about the SUV whose brakes gave out and killed two people."


Hmm, very odd. So who's the main suspect at this point, the husband?
"No, guys totally checked out. Sent his kid to his mother and shut himself into the house. Merrimans check out too.." Your associate sounds bewildered.

How about forensics, they come up with anything or was that a dead end too?

me: "Nothing yet. You know, I took a glance at the file. The manager who was abducted was blindfolded and gagged some of it. He also says he thought he heard a plane fly over him. Makes me think of the east end of the suburbs."

Kevin: If the abduction is connected with one of the murders, it sounds like someone who had a grievance against the auto plant. Maybe someone thought they were getting a big settlement and it didn't pan out. You may want to talk to some of those down town lawyers, see if they know anything. I'll look into some of my other contacts, let you know if I come up with anything. Thanks for the info.

"Yeah. Stay chill." His associate hung up.

Sent at 10:04 AM on Saturday
Chris ponders what to do next. It had been a long time since he had a big story. This didn't seem overly bizarre, but it was getting a lot of press. Maybe a good break on this could help him get a real job again...

Auto Plant
Gary; Chris
NPCs: Jack; Hillary


He decides to get in his car and drive over to the Auto Plant to see about talking to the manager that was kidnapped.

As you arrive, the receptionist gives you an odd look. "Two in one day? Sorry, he's not to be disturbed right now. He's talking to someone about what happened to him... "

Gary looks down on his fingernails while listening, looking up every once in a while. The connection between the murders and the abduction was starting to fade to clarity like a relief.

"And what exactly was Merriman gonna fix? What happened with the husband and the boy? Why was it necessary to hush it down?"

Gary waits a couple of seconds for his questions to sink in.

"Oh and one more thing. This is going to sound weird, but... Before you got taken. Did you get a feeling of being watched? Like someone was following you for a time, before it actually happened?"

"It was the brakes." The man winced. "Far as I could tell at the first sign, the vehicle wasn't properly maintained. Went through a few owners, each guy says the last one got it checked out... easy to let one slip.

And if the news gets wind that we're putting out bad brakes, it could be the killing blow to this town. "

He can't quite look you in the eye. "Had a guy sit on the news people until I could get it checked out. Turns out, it was a defect. But I couldn't have known that when that family got killed.

Was a man and his boy. " Emotion clouds his voice. "Driver hit the brakes, but .. boy died on impact. Husband on the way to the ambulance. "

The man seems lost in memories before he comes back to you.

"Before I got snatched... " He tilts his head. " - the car alarm went off outside my house the night before. I checked it out... and I did get creeped out. '

Gary grunts and holds his head down while rubbing his temples, and looking up at the manager from under his hands.

"Sorry, migraines." he squeezes out between clenched teeth.

"Thank you for your time, it's been helpful"

Gary gets up and heads out of the office.

The manager nods after you, making some non committal gesture of good will at you. As you head into the lobby, you see another man standing besides Hilliary's desk. She turns as you exit the building.

Hillary turned towards Chris. "Let me see if he feels like company."

She says, delicately stepping between you as she heads into the managers office. You stand alone in the lobby with the other man.

Gary, still rubbing his temples, sees the man in the trenchcoat and after introductions, he reaches out a tired hand. "Agent Goedken." He seems a little distracted by the pain he is in, but slowly returns his gaze to the reporter. "If this isn't your usual rotunda, I'd advice you to step away. The killer's still out there and the more people sniffing at his trail, the less likely he is to leave one. Let us professionals handle it."

Gary releases the firm grip of his own head, and looks a little disbelievingly at Chris. "I wouldn't count on that last part. But sure, you can tag along if you want to, you might be useful. But don't make any stupid mistakes, this is 100% under the table, allright? I have a feeling you don't quite understand exactly how dangerous this might be. My cases have tendency to turn out ugly."

Gary puts his hands in his jacket pocket and nods for Chris to come with him as he starts moving towards the door. "I have to make a few phonecalls. And for the record, you can't quote me on anything." He takes out the the left-over bit of his sandwhich and takes a bite as he steels himself for the weather outside.

"Connection indeed. Apparently an accident with an old used car ended up with a father and a son both dying. Mr. Cox got abducted and kidnapped by a woman questioning him about the tragedy, he spurts out the name Merriman. Shortly after, little miss Merriman goes missing from her playground to later show up dead. How's that for connection?"

Storyteller: As you speak to one another, Gary gets a phone call. He was just planning on making one- but this one is truly terrible message. Danny was kidnapped an hour ago from his grandmother's home. The underlying feeling from the police, Oleano stressed, is that its the same person who killed his mother and the Merriman girl. There's no DNA on the scene, no forced entry. The grandmother says a nice woman was asking her about Chinese take out - and when she turned around, Danny was gone.
Gary: Gary quickly asks where the grandmother lives, and then hangs up. He looks at Chris with a stressed look. "Another dissapearance, an hour ago. I need to go. You coming?"
Chris: Chris nods his head a grave expression on his face. "Absolutely. I'll follow you."
Gary: Gary nods, and heads out the door, while calling up and ordering a taxi, stressing how important it is that it's quick. He heads out and waits for the cab while holding his hands at the back of his neck, going through the clues in his mind.
Chris: "You don't have a car, and I thought the Feds were flush?" Chris gets in his car. "Hop in I'll drive."
Gary: Gary hops in, while nodding gratefully.
Storyteller: The noose is tightening, you can feel it. How quickly could you find him?
Gary: Gary gives Chris the address. "It's the son of Patti Wood, the first victim. He dissapeared from his grandmother's."
Chris: Chris drives as quickly as he can to the scene of the crime, adrenalyn pumping through his veins the whole way. "Someone must really have it out for this family."
Storyteller: [I assume youre heading to the grandmothers?]
Gary: "You don't say. The granny said that she'd been talking to a kind lady about chinese food, and then shortly after her grandson was gone. This person is our best bet."

Chris: "Sounds like a witness to me...There's got to be some connection to this brake recall though. Someone who wants vengeance on this entire auto plant. That's my theory anyhow." He is driving for grandma's...
Gary: "I might jsut have to make another visit to David Wood. There's something he's not telling me."
Storyteller: As you pull up, you see three police cars. The road has been blocked for through traffic, making Gary flash his badge to have the car waved through. Chris has to marvel at the exclusive feeling of being ushered in. True, its a grisley crime to take a child. Yet - he's in! As you park the car, Gary recognizes Olena talking to a uniform.

Gary: Gary nods at Chris to follow him, and walks up to Edgar. "What've we got?"
Chris: Chris takes his camera along with him as he follows Gary to the crime scene.
Storyteller: The grandmother lives in Midtown. The area is average, mostly residential. You note the sidewalk running along both sides of the street, leading to a small shopping center half a mile down the street. The area is dominated by homes- some nice, with full gardens in front of the homes. Some are aged and stooped. Oleana glances at Chris, but speaks to Gary. "Same thing as before. Child simply vanished, no one saw it happened. We're assuming the child could have gotten past the grandmother. Walk with me." He turns and leads you to the front door, which is perched atop of a stepping stone path that crosses from the sidewalk to the front of the house, across a neatly trimmed yard. "Grandma is here." He nods to the door." The child was playing in the livingroom inside. Theres no forced entry or open doors in other parts of the house. So the child had to have either gotten by Grandma or someone passed Grandma to get to him."
Gary: "And Grammy was talking to someone, right? Where is this woman?"
Storyteller: Olena turned, looking down the street. "Unknown. Grandma called the police immediately, but when she returned to the front, the woman was gone." He gives you a long look. "You think its the blonde?"
Chris: Chris quietly takes a few pictures of the house as he listens.


Gary: "Yeah, she's the only one who was present, she's our only suspect at the moment." Gary walks around the crimescene, searching for anything that the others might have missed. [Extended Investigation roll, Chris can interrupt Gary if he wants]
Storyteller: [paste in the rolls, I'll update with sux as we go]
Gary: http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=a97496a1
Chris: Chris also examines the crime scene and will attempt to help Gary.
Chris: http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=ea441bb8
Chris: "You know if they got a good description? Blonde woman is a little vague." As he pokes around the house.
Storyteller: Chris is drawn to the sidewalk outside of the house, specifically to the low wooden gate. He leans down and notes something on the ground. It looks like a piece of clothing was caught in the gate and drifted down to the ground.
Chris: "Think I got something here." he bends over to take a few photographs but keeps his hands off the clothing. Murder may not have been his typical beat, but he was no fool either.
Gary: Gary heads out to the gate and inspects Chris' find. He heads over to one of the police-cars and gets a pair of latex-gloves from someone, and then heads back to pick the piece up as lightly as he can, and puts it in a ziplock bag.
Gary: "Impressive, paper-boy"
John: John put the camera back in his pocket, it wasn't that interesting but the basic work paid the bills. He was walking both because it was good for him and more importantly his car was back in the shop, which made the money he'd get for the proof of the husband's infidelity all the more important. He noted the police cars as well as the small crowd that had gathered and a small amount of his old pride in that work came back. Altering his path he slipped through the crowd and watched the scene before him, listening to the half truths and mistaken idea's that the crowd was developing based on the few details that had leaked out. He watched silently motioning slightly to Raven for him to take a look around beyond the barrier to find the truth of the crime.
Storyteller: Gary and Chris deduce that its a piece of white fabric- similiar to the white and green striped shirt that the grandmother dressed him in. She describes her grandson as wearing jeans, green shoes and that shirt, a fragment of which is in your hand. She also decribes the woman as 'lovely'. Pretty, blonde, very well spoken. Siad she and her husband had just moved to the area and were looking for a good Chinese take out place. She did notice the woman had a dark stain on the sleeve of her green sweater.
Chris: Chris rubs his chin. "So, kid comes outside to play, gets snagged by this lady, and a piece of someone's clothing gets snagged in the bush as they make their exit. That sound about right to you?"
Storyteller: Raven does as he is bid. He comes back a moment later, a brief mention of a missing child. He also was more curious about the two men holding a piece of shirt, a shirt that smells like blood. The piece of shirt, however, is spotless.
Gary: "It does, except that the child was inside, and grammy was in the doorway. THe boy was either snagged from some other entry-point, or the abductor was really really fast."
John: John frowns with a nod to Raven and a hand reaching up to ruffle the feathers that don't seem to exist. He focuses on the pair that Raven points out recognising one of the two.
Storyteller: As you speak, the two of you note a man on the side walk a bit aways from the house. After a moment, Gary recognizes him from the mad dash across town with the escaped patients.
Chris: Chris frowns, a dark expression on his face. "So who is this lady going to come after next? Everyone is connected to this auto plant right?"
Gary: Gary's gaze is caught by the man across the fence, the one he reckognizes from a few weeks ago. He looks back at Chris. "I think I know who. If the pattern is kept, I think Mrs. Merriman is going to get a visit. But wait here, I need to check something." Gary walks over to John."
Chris: Chris nods, then decides to take a much needed smoke break.
Chris: Geez, if I can get the video of the arrest as it goes down. That'll be worth a few grand at least. He thinks.
Storyteller: One had to think of the child, barely more than a baby, in the hands of a woman who had presumably already killed twice. Once, the child's own mother- and then a defenseless girl. What could the child be subjected to, even now? Gary recalls the marks on Cox's hands from restraints, the contusion on his head. Would the child be subjected to such treatment - or perhaps even be murdered? Glancing around, you do not have faith in the bewildered police men who mill around, searching for evidence.
John: John watches Gary as he approaches, his face grim. "What happened?" he asks simply and straightforwardly.
Gary: Gary looks at the hunter, feeling relief over not being the only one not completely out of the loop at the scene. "Good to see you again. A boy had been kidnapped. It's the fourth of this kind in the last two weeks."
John: "The Fabric you found, what is it?" John asks in hushed tones, asking about a fact that there is no way he should have been able to make out at this distance.
Gary: Flinching at John's apparent clairvoyance, Gary looks at him for several seconds, inspecting him. "Is he...? " he thinks to himself, before shaking his head. "It's... it is a ripped off piece of clithing that matches what the grandmother dressed the boy with. He has probably been dragged out past the gate somehow. But no witnesses."
Chris: Chris smokes
John: "It smells of blood." he says softly "There are plenty of things that might steal a child which can't be seen by most people. Few if any of them are friendly."
Gary: "I didn't really have a chance to smell it... and I was within arms reach. I know you're kind of a special case, but you know that it's not exactly in your favor to show up at a crime scene, knowing things that you're not supposed to, right? "
John: Mere moments after he finishes speaking john stiffens, his eyes darting around as if searching for something "Where, brother?" he asks softly.
Storyteller: The familiar takes to the air, flying over the houses. In the house. It murmurs. The house, this way.
Chris: Chris smokes
John: He looks after it then to gary "Raven smelled it. His senses are sharper than ours when things push over into his realm. He's also got the trail of what caused this. Its in there." he motions pointing towards the house that Raven headed for.
Gary: Gary, not really understanding what he's hearing, follows John's gesture and looks at the house. "We missed something inside? Let's check it out, shall we?"
Gary: Gary looks at the cops and make a simple gesture at John. "He's with me."
Chris: Chris follows the law enforcement officials into the house. He nods to John. "Chris Williams, I'm with the press."
John: He nods and slips under the tape before heading quickly and smartly after raven. He looks to Chris for a moment and then to Gary "How much does he know?" he asks.

Gary: (1/4/2011 1:52:19 PM): "He's stupid enough to go after a serial killer on his own, so either he's one of us, or just a nut-job"
kclace22 (1/4/2011 1:53:20 PM): "How much do I know? What's that supposed to mean?" Chris pokes around the place looking for anything out of place...
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 1:53:45 PM): Raven hurries into the house, up the stairs. The creature is wordless, letting John look through his own eyes for clues. Unseen by all others, it flies into an open room. The room is a spare bedroom, hastily re purposed to be a child's bedroom. The Raven flies to the window. Looking at it, John suddenly sees something worrisome. It is a bloody smear on the bottom of the window sill. Someone with blood on thier hands opened this window. Moving to the window, you can see that the immediate way out is to slide across the sloping roof, hit the manicured lawn- and head out the front gate.
kclace22 (1/4/2011 1:53:53 PM): http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=f4ec8373
John: (1/4/2011 1:55:28 PM): "I fear this is nothing so simple as a mere serial killer." he says simply "While any death has an impact it seems likely that it is something from that side to have had such an impact on Raven." he says letting himself be led by the raven. coming to the bedroom he heads straight for the window and points out the blood to Gary "What ever it was seems to have at some point gained access through here."
kclace22 (1/4/2011 1:57:32 PM): "Who's Raven?" Chris wonders allowed. He snaps a few photographs of the bed room and looks outside. "Geez, she went in through the bed room...then jumped down off the roof. That's impossible!"
Gary: (1/4/2011 1:57:33 PM): While heading up the stair, Gary looks at John, as if talking to a coworker. "The term 'serial killer' is a little wider than that. In my book, anything that kills more than once and uses the same M.O., is a serial killer."
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 1:57:38 PM): Chris glances down through the window, the vantage spot lending credence to the fact that something went very wrong here. There- on the roof top. Its another smear of blood, right above the kitchen. Perhaps the intruder came here first, didn't spot the child and went looking. Chris shifted his gaze. It catches on the front walk, where the neat little stones lead to the front door. There is something between the smooth stone edge and the muddy area surrounding the stone. An impression in the mud - a partial shoe print that someone missed?
John: (1/4/2011 1:59:42 PM): "Raven is my friend, my Ally and my brother." he says simply before looking at Gary "Death may not be the only outcome. There are other reasons to steal away a child." he says turning to Raven "Is it still here?" he asks watching the room.
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:00:24 PM): Raven darts forward, its body gliding through the closed window. It dissapears from John's sight, flying low into a row of adjoining houses. Perhaps searching out where the killer had taken the child. John shouldn't worry as Raven doesn't immediately respond.
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:00:27 PM): "Woah, look at that. Down on the lawn. That might be a foot print down there. And the kitchen, more blood. What the hell happened here?"
John: (1/4/2011 2:02:10 PM): He frowns at raven's quietness but lets him do as he will, Raven's trickster nature often made him more than a little precocious. He follows Chris's gaze "we should get a closer look." he says.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:06:45 PM): Gary heads over to the window, peeking down at the roof and out at the yard.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:06:55 PM): "Yeah let's"
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:07:39 PM): As Gary leads the group downstairs, he also sees the impression left by a foot print. Calling over a tech is a simple matter. The tech descends onto the impression, no ego flares or causes him to defend himself. After taking several measurements, such as the depth of the tread, he looks up and reports.

"The person who made this is slight, maybe 120 lbs. These are a popular high end woman's running shoe."
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:10:44 PM): Chris looks around utterly confused by the situation. "So, she fell from the roof, and landed on her feet?"
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:11:19 PM): Gary looks back at the two companions of his and gives a meaningful look. "Can you get me the phone-number to Jack Cox, manager at the mobile-plant, thanks." he spurts off to the techinician, knowing full well that it's not his area of expertise.
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:12:12 PM): The technician pauses, glancing around at the FBI Jackets that move around the scene. "Yeah.." The agent stands and moves away, searching out someone more knowledgeable than he.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:12:42 PM): Gary looks back at Chris. "No, the footprint looks more as if she lowered herself. Almost as if she took her time. "
John: (1/4/2011 2:13:37 PM): "No deep tread or disturbed earth." he nods agreeing with Gary "This doesn't look like a leap." he says moving closer to the wall of the building and staring up at the guttering.
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:14:31 PM): Raven had departed a few minutes earlier, leaving you to ponder out the disturbing scene. Yet the next message imparted from John's ally is worrisome. She has the bloody blade.
John: (1/4/2011 2:15:33 PM): He turns to gary for a moment "what bloody blade?" he asks before moving quickly towards Raven.
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:15:48 PM): "Still pretty weird stuff." He snaps a picture of the foot print.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:17:50 PM): His mind-a-running, he looks at John. You seem more knowledgable on the occult side of things here, but I think I have a pretty good idea of who it is. So you and Raven can try to find more clues on her nature. I'm gonna try to find her last known adress."
John: (1/4/2011 2:19:05 PM): He nods to gary and jogs off after raven.
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:22:50 PM): Chris frowns slightly as he watches the odd man run off. He looks at Gary. "So what's your theory cause right now I'm at a loss to explain any of this."
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:25:06 PM): John moves along the row of houses, searching out Raven. The bird is not communicating, forcing John to wonder how far Raven could have gone before he had called to John.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:26:07 PM): Gary stands still, while listening to what one of the medical examiners were saying, frozen. "Oh this is bad. Oh this is so very bad. We need to catch this S.o.b. "
John: (1/4/2011 2:26:18 PM): He frowns keeping moving attentive to both worlds and moving as quickly as he can to find Raven, hopefully the bird hadn't gotten itself into any trouble.
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:27:40 PM): "Well lets go to where the next victim is going to be and stake the place out. That's how its done ri?"ght
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:29:22 PM): While heading over to one of the more administrative looking cops to see if anyone has found Cox's number yet, he talks to Chris. "Think about it. David Wood works at the car-plant, close to the brake-related accident that kills a father and a son. David Wood's wife dies. The manager gets abducted and gets pressed into giving off Merriman's name, after which Merriman's daughter gets mutilated. Now David's son, and not long from now, Merriman's wife!"
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:30:00 PM): Here. Raven calls to John. John pauses, glancing around. Then he sees the house standing slightly apart, all of the lights off save one. The one near the back. Glancing at the window, you see a squat, spindly bush beneath it. One would make a great deal of noise if one tried to sneak in that way. The front walk was unobstructed.
Gary: (1/4/2011 2:30:16 PM): "I need to call the manager, to get the names of the two victims of the accident, so that we can look up the mother of the family. We know the person here is likely a woman."
John: (1/4/2011 2:31:05 PM): He took a moment before approaching the house. He stayed to the clear front path for a moment but listened closely watching the house "What is in here brother?" he asks softly.
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:32:44 PM): The agent quickly finds someone who turns and listens to his plight. The young woman makes a phone call and relays the situation, miring her words with codes that those with a scanner would be hard pressed to identify. Gary and Chris wait anxiously as the woman negotiates with the other line, occasionally affirming that the other agent was on the right track. "The family has only one survivor." She replies to you. "The mother, Emily Gillen. She's been unaccounted for since the deaths of her family. The house she lived in stands empty."
kclace22 (1/4/2011 2:33:27 PM): Chris nods his head. "That makes sense to me. I figured it had to be someone who had lost something on account of the brake cover up. Geez, if only I had time to press that manager."
Storyteller: (1/4/2011 2:33:40 PM): Bad. Raven replied, its black eyes appearing as it raises itself from the roof of this house. The boy is still.

John: (1/4/2011 2:35:52 PM): He frowns, drawing his gun from its holster feeling the weight of it "Your side or mine brother?" he asks pressing himself up against the door and listening to what is within.

Gary: (1/4/2011 2:37:06 PM): Gary nods at the young woman to do as Chris said.

Gary & Chris


Admin Assistant: "Based on this... yes. Her last known weight is 120. She's pretty." The woman turned her screen, showing you the DMV image of a stunning woman, even in the flat picture of the DMV,

Gary: "We need to check out her home. Maybe there's some other clues there. We need to work fast though. Danny's clock is ticking."
Admin Assistant: "I said her house is empty." The woman repeated herself. "Her friend from work reported her missing."

Gary looks slightly condescendingly at the woman. "She is missing. Where do you start looking? The last place someone saw her. Her home can't be entirely empty."

The woman shrugs. "If you say so. Here's her home address." The woman relays, ignoring your attitude.


John:

"No, this one's mine!" A woman's voice declares angrily. The voice is gutteral, tinged with madness and emotion.

"Yours." Raven fluttered his wings at the unexpected noise, unsettled.

He frowns "Madam, open this door right now." he commands with his best authoritarian police voice loud and clear.

Storyteller: There is silence within. Then the slam of the door- the back door!

He ran at that moment, to the side of the house and down the side his pistol ready.

John races down the side of the house. He pauses when he knows he's in the right place, the back door hangs open. Yet there's nobody there. Turning, he scans the residential neighborhood. The neighborhood is quiet. He can't even hear the sounds of foot steps.

John investigates the back garden of the house, but its clear that no one is hiding here. Frustration flirts with you that someone has eluded your grasp. You return to the back door that hangs open. Its clearly not breaking and entering.


The house is dark and quiet. The air is stagnant and smells slightly of mildew. Something must be wrong with the electricity, because the lights flicker and pop, their shallow pools of light fading and returning irregularly. You hear a slight ringing
in your ears, an electrical buzz like the high hum of a power line. But then the sounds fade away to utter silence. A scent rises, the cloying, coppery scent of blood and you know you’ve come to the right place.

Stepping within, John has to fight the urge to continue within the house. A great deal of blood is pooled in the center of the living room. He can see the discarded child's shirt, now stained with blood. His eyes trail back to that pool of blood, imagining the wound the child must have suffered through to have caused that.

Could the child be alive? Could he continue into the home?

[Rico, roll resolve + comp for John]

[John Atian rolled 4 dice to "resolve+comp" 7,6,9,8 (2 successes)]

He bit back the bile rising in his throat and looked around. He didn't approach the pool of blood looking quickly away from it and further into the house.

The house was silent. It squat a silent witness to the horrors that had happened within in. His years investigating were leading John to believe that he was the only living thing in the house. Nothing could be that quiet in a house with such history as this, with its creaking boards and long shadows.

He cursed his indecision "Where is the boy?" he asks Raven "What realm has he been taken to?" he wonders to himself and raven. Moving slowly he steps around the blood pool into the rest of the house.

Raven is silent. You can feel his presence somewhere outside, a comforting presence in this silent, gloomy house. The odd buzzing has faded away, leaving you with a too quiet house that should have been blooming with the activities of a family. Or at least a child.

You find the child and instantly wish that you had not. The body lies on its back, just outside of the pool of blood. Now you can see the slight defect of the floor that caused his blood to run so. You wish that you could stare at the floor and ignore the terrible violence that has been done here.

From the wrongness of the face - its color, the lack of features, you instantly fear the degree of mutilation that has taken place. You would have to near the child to get a better idea of what had happened to him.

Or perhaps you should walk back the way you had come, get the Agent and his associates to bring their careful treads and thier state of the art devices. At the back of your mind, questions begin to buzz, inane questions of forensics and possible witnesses. You could embrace the distraction from the horror and find the people paid to do this work. The second choice is frightening, to enter that room that was so recently occupied by the evil child killer.

John cursed, if h'ed been faster, if he'd simply kicked in the door at the first sign maybe He could have saved that boy. His father would have done it he was sure, He felt the weight of ages press down upon himself before he took a deep breath. He would help nobody if he moped about his inabilities.

He peers closer trying to pick up what was going on on the otherside but staying back, not wanting to disturb the crime scene.

The body told a terrible story, one you hoped was ended by the deep cut to the boy's throat. The child's face no longer resembles one, merely tissue and flesh exposed to the air. The child's face had been carefully removed from the fragile boy.

You can not see the child's face anywhere. Perhaps the killer took it with her. Yet as you look back to the boy, you are at least comforted that while you could have perhaps caught the killer, you could not have prevented the boy's death. This degree of work had clearly taken up the two hours that the boy had been missing for.

The timeline you recall from the newspapers has been stepped up. The killer no longer keeps her victims alive for hours. Why change now? Where could she be going now?

Hadn't the agent had an idea to her next target?