Special Unit- The Mean Streets of London: Chapter 1

[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: 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? 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? 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.