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Episode 1.4: Briefing and Fact Finding
Topic Started: Jul 3 2011, 02:09 AM (18,129 Views)
Cooper Mandrake
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9/1/10

"I'm not gonna spill my guts on a regular client," Rachel told him, full of fire. "Not good for future business."
She turned slightly to face him, wincing a bit as she did.

"Not unless you have something to offer, Collector," she added with a wicked smile. "You have anything that I might be interested in?"



That figured. "No, nothing." I pulled the sheet back up over the pert little ass of the predictable miss R. I stood to go, [b["A lot of people have been busting their balls trying to help you and your friends out. You got nothing for me, you got nothing for me."[/b] I headed for the door. "Rest easy Rachel, I've got to get back to work."
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Adria Stark
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9/1/10

"There was a briefing this morning" Adria explained, making a face. Her hand tightened a bit in Andrew's when he kissed her neck, and her step faltered for a fraction of a second. "I'll make it up later...tonight" she added, her voice almost a purr. A mischievous smile curved her lips, a combination of heat and a softness she was unaware of in her eyes when she looked at him again.

They passed a motel or two as they headed for the Wilds, and Adria seriously considered changing that 'later' to 'now'...but though she slowed a little as they passed the buildings, she didn't stop. If last night had been any indication, they weren't likely to stop for a good long time. Adria was paying attention to where they were going, but that didn't stop her from glancing at him every so often.

Adria did stop when they reached the Wilds. She could see now why Hutch had suggested backup. "Let's get this done with, so we can get out of here as quickly as possible" she said. She tightened her hand around Andrew's again for a moment, then picked a direction and started walking again. She hoped they ran into Ink so she could have a chance to kill him...but at the same time hoped they didn't. Though she'd barely even admit it to herself, the man scared her. She wanted to get in, get what information they could, then get out. She kept her attention on their surroundings, keeping her eyes open for anyone who seemed...new...anyone who might be able to direct them to the girl from Jiangyin.
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Andrew Williams
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AKA Panther
9/2/10

Andrew suppressed the urge to yawn, not wanting to appear as uninterested as he was. Usually, he didn’t give a rat’s ass what other people thought, but along with many other things- with Adria that was a different story. He wanted her to see him as someone who was willing to support her, to stick by her. Although he was anxious to get this case over with and move on to a more prominent scene (rather than the Eavesdown), he remained here still due to its importance to Adria. However bored he was with finding this ‘Butcher,’ he was going to suck it up and stick with it.

In areas such as the Wilds, Andrew wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. In-fact, he found himself strangely at home. He was far more relaxed here then the Constable, to say the least. Looking at Adria, he got the hint she didn’t exactly feel the same way. “What exactly are we looking for again?” he asked.
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Adria Stark
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9/2/10

Adria was tempted to duck into one of the alleys and pull Andrew in close, to speak in a lower voice as she answered his question. She knew it would just be an excuse though...and doing that could all too easily lead to other things...things they didn't have time for right now, and that she wouldn't want to do in such a public location anyway. She settled for resting her chin on his shoulder as they walked.

"When Mac and I met up with Kiki a little while ago, Kiki told me there was a whore from Jiangyin who'd arrived here a few months ago. The whore told Kiki that there had been a series of murders on Jiangyin with essentially the same MO as these" she said, pitching her voice so it wouldn't carry. "The perpetrator was never caught. It very well could be the same person. I'm hoping we can find the whore, or at least find someone who knows where she might be. I'm hoping we'll be able to find her, and that she'll be able to give us more information about the murders on Jiangyin. That way we're not spending hours or days looking in the wrong places or for the wrong things. Kiki walked off too quickly for me to get any more information about the whore." She paused and shrugged slightly. "At the very least we'll get an idea of the layout of the Wilds, in case we have to come here again."

Adria continued to scan the area, moving only her eyes, as she walked and talked. She leaned back just a little from Andrew as if she'd simply been whispering naughty things. If they found nothing after a circuit or two, she'd go back to the ship and hit the Cortex.
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Captain Jeremiah Hutchins
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Hutch
9/2/10

Hutch nodded at Mac as she approached.

“You think the Reverend was the one who beat Rachel?”

"I don't know," Hutch said. "We'll have to get that little piece of information out of Rachel. We don't even know if he partakes of the services available down in the District. Even if he is though, there is not much we can do if Rachel refuses to press charges."

As they walked up to the gate, Hutch remembered the comm she had earlier.

"As for Cody Denninger, what does Silas Bradford have to do with it?"
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Rachel
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9/2/10

"No, nothing. A lot of people have been busting their balls trying to help you and your friends out. You got nothing for me, you got nothing for me. Rest easy Rachel, I've got to get back to work."

Rachel frowned as Cooper headed for the door.

"Wait!" she called out. "I'm sorry Collector, it's just that I wanted some attention from someone who is... safe."

She took a breath.

"I know you probably want to have the man bound, but I know you can't unless I press charges," Rachel said, showing her knowledge of the law. "And you know I won't."

She sat up to face him, the sheet slipping over her bare skin to pool at her waist.

"It just started out as a regular appointment with him, but he was agitated and it just got way out of hand after that," she explained. "He was real sorry about it and all. Apologized over and over for taking his belt to me.

"He's never done that. Never in all the times I done him or when Jana and I both met with him. I don't think it'll ever happen again."


She must have sensed Cooper's frustration with wanting to know a name.

"It was Reverend Marley. He's a regular of mine. Was a regular of Jana's too."

She looked at Cooper.

"Now you ain't gonna rush after him and try to do nothing to him are you? Cause I don't want to lose him as a customer. He always pays well."
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Skye MacKenzie
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"Mac"
9/3/10

Hutch wrote:
"As for Cody Denninger, what does Silas Bradford have to do with it?"


Mac walked along in silence for a little while, marshalling her thoughts for Hutch. It wasn’t usually easy to explain her hunches to someone. In fact, much of the time she couldn’t even explain them to herself.

“I think Cooper was onto something with the pregnancy angle. At first, I thought the Butcher was someone who’d gotten the whores knocked up and then killed them for that. But that wouldn’t explain how he knew. Based on what I could glean from Coop’s report, maybe Ink had the means to know about the whores’ pregnancies, but personally, I think that smacked too much of conspiracy theories and psychics. I don’t know how Ink managed to gather his intel, but I refuse to believe he’d know when a whore was pregnant when they don’t talk to anyone. So, while I won’t dismiss Ink yet, I’ve got the hunch that the Butcher had a different connection to the whores in that respect.

“So, if the Butcher isn’t getting them pregnant, how else would he be involved? Only other option I can think of is he’s the son of one of the whores. Someone like Cody, perhaps. It would give him motive for the killings.

“I know Coop put an APB out on Cody, but without a place to start looking for him, it’s doubtful we’ll ever find him.

“And Cody may not be the Butcher. It may be someone else still. Someone we haven’t looked into yet. Who knows everyone around here? Bradford. And, I’ve seen him with the kids. He cares about them. Kiki even said he helps them out, finds them homes. So, if anyone knows where Cody would be, I’m willing to bet it’s Bradford. He’d probably also know who amongst the whores’ kids would fit the personality profile of the Butcher, not to mention who’d been sent to Jiangyin to be raised.”


She shrugged at that point.

“It may not pan out. But unless someone else has better, it’s the best lead I’ve got.”

Now it was her turn to grill Hutch.

“So, if we can’t bring the good Rev in on assault charges, just why are we here?”
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Cooper Mandrake
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9/3/10

I looked shocked, concerned, but just enough pleased. I walked back and sat next to her on the bed. Inside my head, or my soul maybe, my little demon thought about that belt striking across her soft nubile flesh. How that would excite ... the rev. The holy punisher. that didn't sound like our boy the butcher, The butcher was a little, a lot more methodical. Or he had been, up until his last - which had gone bad. As I sat my far hand flicked my comm on for transmission only, with a beep notice so it wouldn't get broadcast too much in the open. I didn't want our conversation going to far. And the auto record would pick it at the desk in the central control room. We Feds love our data.
"No Rachel, you telling me the Reverend was the one that beat you isn't so I can go and arrest him." No, that'd be for someone listening in. "I need to know when you've been with him though, and with Jana. I figured he was having some sex with the women in the district, and knowing who and when, then I can be sure he's not the Butcher. Which I don't think he is, but I've got to have facts and evidence. So, when and where did he lay the belt on you?"

I kept laying it on thick, it wasn't hard. I had the girl on her back and her legs happily wrapped around me already so it didnt take much effort to be as comforting as I really intended to be. But the cop switch was on, and the dark little bugger in my head wanted to hear the ghastly little belt snapping details. I wanted to make sure the Butcher wasn't the Rev. I wasn't totally convinced, not yet.


.....

"Where was he headed after that? . . . . Does you have a place he goes? . . . . And when else have you been with him? And Jana?"
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Rachel
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9/6/10

She had told. She hadn't intended to, but she did. She gave away the Reverend's secret. She just hoped to God that her Collector didn't want to have him bound by law or some other less lawful punishment.

"No Rachel, you telling me the Reverend was the one that beat you isn't so I can go and arrest him."

"Good," she sighed in relief. Cooper was back at her side. She could feel his warmth next to her and suddenly her wounds didn't feel so bad.

"I need to know when you've been with him though, and with Jana. I figured he was having some sex with the women in the district, and knowing who and when, then I can be sure he's not the Butcher. Which I don't think he is, but I've got to have facts and evidence. So, when and where did he lay the belt on you?"

"Reverend Marley ain't the Butcher, Mr. Collector man," Rachel told him. "Far from it. He's one of the nicest clients I have. Well... Until this time, but like I said earlier, it never happened like that before. Things just got out of hand."

Rachel pulled Cooper closer, wrapping her legs around him, wanting more...

"Reverend Marley and I met at Jana's tonight. He knew about Jana being killed in my hovel. He was feeling mighty guilty about not being able to convince me 'n Jana to leave the life, but I like it in the District. I know it's strange, but I do. All them men wanting you, sometimes buying you presents and the like, but the Reverend, he snapped. He tied my hands to the footboard and as I kneeled next to the bed, he brought out his belt and started whippin' me, begging me to stop being a whore.

"It hurt a lot, but it didn't make no difference and after a while, he realized it. After he saw what he did, he cried like a baby, said he was sorry many times over, asked if I needed a doctor, which I didn't, paid me well and left like a bat out of Hell."


Rachel started fiddling at the buttons on Cooper's shirt.

"And he didn't do business with any other girls but me 'n Jana. I don't know why, but it was just us."

"Where was he headed after that? . . . . Does you have a place he goes? . . . . And when else have you been with him? And Jana?"

"I don't know where he goes after. We don't follow our clients," she said with a smirk. Rachel thought about stopping there, but Cooper already knew the truth, so she might as well tell him what he was wanting to know. "We had a weekly thing. Sometimes he'd see Jana and sometimes he'd see me. Most times all three of us would meet at Jana's for our own special kind of prayer meeting. We'd pray and after a bit he couldn't help himself. So while he was having fun, one of us was always reading from specific passages in the Bible. He had them marked. After a while, there was no need for reading and we would just take care of his needs."

She looked straight into his eyes as she pulled him closer.

"I could take care of your needs too," she offered.

And she really hoped he'd let her.
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Captain Jeremiah Hutchins
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Hutch
9/6/10

Hutch listened to Mac's theories about Cody and perhaps that the Butcher was a son of one of the whores. Also about her desire to follow up with Silas Bradford. He nodded.

"I think we can cross Cody Denninger off the list of suspects though. He is only 8," Hutch told her. "But the theory is sound. Silas might be able to give us more information about the children who were in the area now or those who might be adults and nearby. I have always found him helpful when I have visited his store. Then, we could then cross check with Jiangyin, if the murderers are similar enough."

“So, if we can’t bring the good Rev in on assault charges, just why are we here?”

"If it was indeed him and Rachel doesn't press charges, there isn't much we can do," Hutch admitted. "But his transmitter was left in the alley between Jana's flat and Callista's. It puts him at the scene. We need to check him out. Ask a few questions. Maybe rattle his cage a bit."

They stopped at the entrance of New Hope Commune. There was a resident sitting there.

"We'd like to see Reverend Marley," Hutch said as he flashed his badge. "Care to point us in his direction?"

"He ain't here," the man said bluntly. "You can come back tomorrow."

"Well, can you point us in the direction of his residence? We can wait on him for a spell," Hutch countered, not knowing if the man was lying or not. "Do I need to remind you of the badge I just showed you or should I just let her give you a different kind of motivation?"

Hutch leaned in closer and whispered into the man's ear.

"And I must warn you that she's feeling a bit peckish tonight."

The man looked up at Mac and a slightly uncomfortable expression settled on his face.

"That way," the man directed him. "To the right of the chapel."

"Thank you, kind Sir," Hutch said smiling. He turned to Mac. "Let's go."
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Adria Stark
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9/6/10

Most of the whores Adria saw had been there awhile. She could tell by their body language...the way they were at ease in the Wilds. She asked a few of them about the girl she was looking for. Some just stared at her, and some tried to get her interested in...spending some time with them...ignoring her questions. One told her where to find at least some of the newer girls. Adria gave the whore a few credits for the information and moved on.

When she and Andrew reached the right area, Adria assessed the girls she saw. Picking one who looked less skittish and therefore more likely to talk than the others, Adria walked up to her. "Excuse me" she said, doing her best to be friendly. "We're looking for someone. The deal is we're trying to catch the Butcher...you know...the man who's been going around killing whores. We've come across some information that might help us catch this hundan. We were told there was a similar case on Jiangyin a few years back, and that there was a woman here who was there and might have some information on that case. We were told she's only been here a few months. Know where we could find her?"
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ILEV Constable
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9/7/10

"Excuse me. We're looking for someone. The deal is we're trying to catch the Butcher...you know...the man who's been going around killing whores. We've come across some information that might help us catch this hundan. We were told there was a similar case on Jiangyin a few years back, and that there was a woman here who was there and might have some information on that case. We were told she's only been here a few months. Know where we could find her?"

The Dockie looked her over. Completely. And didn't seem impressed. Then she turned and looked at Andrew. A smile came to her face. She sidled up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to slowly guide him away.

"You must be talkin' 'bout Jade," the Dockie said. Her eyes never left Andrew, but she was obviously talking to Adria. "She from Jiangyin. She the blonde down the way by the cortex terminal. Tries to pick up clients there."

Sure enough, there was a blonde standing by the public cortex terminal which clothes so skimpy they hardly passed for clothing.

"You can go see her, but you?" she said turning her full attention on Andrew. "You can come visit with me for a while. I'll give you a good price. You know... Show you a good time?"
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Skye MacKenzie
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"Mac"
9/7/10

New Hope Commune

Mac wasn’t normally a violent woman, but the events of the last days had left their mark on her psyche. As Hutch threatened the man, she let her worst leer creep over her face while her fingers twitched as if wanting to wrap themselves around his throat and squeeze tightly. Which in a way, they did. It would have been nice to take out her frustrations on the poor man and she probably wouldn’t even have blinked as she’d done it either.

It seemed to work; the man caved pretty quickly.

They reached the residence and knocked, but there was no answer to their hail. Holding up a hand to stop Hutch from doing anything precipitous, she reached into her hair roll and pulled out a set of lockpicks, then got to work on the good Reverend’s front door. It took a little while to have it open, but then, these weren’t the best lockpicks that Mac owned. They just had the advantage of being able to hide in her hair.

Because it was standard operating procedure, she pulled her gun out before entering the house, even though she didn’t expect to use it. She peered around the door into the house first, hoping they wouldn’t have to go through much effort for this. Too much wasted time and Mac would get cranky again.

“Reverend Marley?” she shouted into the house. “Allied Law Enforcement. Can you come out to talk to us?”

There was still no answer, so they slipped inside and started a room-by-room search while Mac got more irritable with each empty room. She regretted now not stopping by Bradford’s first rather than wasting time on Marley again.
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Cooper Mandrake
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9/7/10

"I could take care of your needs too," she offered.

no doubt

"It'll keep Rachel." Despite her assurances I wasn't too convinced... about the Rev, not taking care of my needs. I pulled her legs from around me and settled her under the sheet. "Get some rest kiddo, you'll need it soon enough." I winked at her with my mostly out of focus leer and headed to the CrimeLabcomputer what-not Center.

Though Rachel did a good story on protecting the Reverend, it still didn't all stack up. As I sat and called up the avatar searches for background data I closed my eyes and tried to find a profile. Nothing had come to me except the frenzy and failed satisfaction that seems to be case for sociopathic serial killers. I couldn't drum this one up. Maybe the rev had his little congragation of two and a killing spree mentality; but that didn't jive with the impotent manner of the murders, and Rachel wasn't likely to miss the good preach being unable to perform.

Not after she'd had me to compare him with... heh, I laughed out loud and opened up my eyes to read the reports. I was in a good mood, I'd worked a bad case and not had any really serious issues with getting too deep in the head of the killer. Of course I hadn't found a clue big enough to need a pair of forensic tweezer, all in all, not a bad trade off.
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Andrew Williams
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AKA Panther
9/7/10

Andrew was afraid at first by the whore’s reaction to Adria that she was not going to talk. The moment she eyed him forever, he grinned lightly as she began to give them a more direct lead. He hardly moved an inch as she came close to him; her intentions all too obvious. He quickly caught Adria’s eye, giving her a playful look of reassurance.

"You can come visit with me for a while. I'll give you a good price. You know... Show you a good time?"

Although she was attractive, she was no match for the fire he saw in Adria. “Your offer is very...” he struggled with the word, knowing well enough Adria was watching. "...Flattering," he said, all in good manners. Whether it would please Adria or not, he wasn’t about to tell off the only woman who had been willing to help them so far. “But I have already made a devotion to this beautiful young lady,” he was being coy on purpose, not wanting to upset either of them. He knew it was odd that he even cared so much. For false reassurance on the whore’s behalf, he was about to spout ‘perhaps another time,’ or even offer the possibility that the three of them go off together. The very idea excited him, but ultimately decided that it would not be such a smart idea to bring it up.

Andrew held up a few credits for the girl in exchange for her help. It felt somewhat strange, turning her down. He never felt what it was like to not be able to do what he wanted, sexually, without suffering consequences. “Thanks for your time,” he said to the whore.
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