Special Unit- The Mean Streets of London: Chapter 1

[Silent Hunter]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Voshkod]

10:00 hours

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

[MrEdwardNigma]

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

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

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

[Silent Hunter]

((OOC Thread

A clinic is essentially a doctor's surgery, for people not needing a hospital bed. "Care in the Community" means that the guy had a mental illness not sufficiently bad enough to warrant his forcefully being placed in a mental hospital- called "being sectioned".

My mistake- a taco then.

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

DNA has yet to come back on either)).

1010

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

1025

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

[urscreenhere]

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

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

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

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

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

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

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

((No problem))

[Hairb]

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

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

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

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

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

"I agree", Carlton replied.

((OOC: He has the whole lot))

[Hairb]

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

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

[Voshkod]

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

[comment censored for possible RL politics violation ]

1200

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

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

((OOC: That means stolen)).

[Silent Hunter]

1159

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

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

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

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

[MrEdwardNigma]

((I've listed all our leads in the OOC. We should divide them and each go after two or three))

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

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

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

[Hairb]

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

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

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

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

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

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

[Hairb]

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

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

"Yes?" she asked.

[Hairb]

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

"Yes?" she asked.

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

[MrEdwardNigma]

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

[Silent Hunter]

((Don't forget the pub))

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

The other shop had been closed the whole relevant time.

[Voshkod]

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

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

[Silent Hunter]

[No objection]

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

She started to break down in tears.

[Voshkod]

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

[Silent Hunter]

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

She was heading towards distraught.

"Is he dead or not?" she screamed.

[Hairb]

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

Luc let out a deep rueful sigh.

"His killer is no longer at large."

[Silent Hunter]

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

Luc let out a deep rueful sigh.

"His killer is no longer at large."

The woman burst into even more tears.

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

[Voshkod]

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

[Silent Hunter]

"Yes, you can", she replied.

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

[Hairb]

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

"For how long did you know Jomo Smith?"

[Silent Hunter]

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

It smelt of tobacco- and cannabis.

"About 18 months", she replied.