(OOC Thread)
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.
Code:
Murder. Barking Station. Get here now. Carlton
(OOC: Everybody else will be heading for Special Unit HQ when they get the text message).
Special Unit- The Mean Streets of London: Chapter 1
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