Special Unit- The Mean Streets of London: Chapter 1

[Silent Hunter]

"If you think you can bamboozle the court with this phony complaint, you are gravely mistaken, Mr O'Reilly."

The solicitor responded.

"Can you actually confront my client with the evidence rather than make cheap shots?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

18:19
As Cramer drove off, he thought of two things: first of all it was probably not wise for him to walk into an arms dealer's shop and accuse him of anything (or worse, try to arrest him) all by himself. In addition to that, the poor shop clerk was still waiting to be questioned in the police office. Since no-one else seemed to be handling that and the visiting the arms dealer would be too dangerous anyways, Cramer headed down to the police office.

19:01
Driving anywhere in London took long, even at this hour. Cramer got out of the car and went to the room where he would be questioning the clerk. He'd called in advance on his way there, and the man would be waiting for him. On his way in, Cramer sent a quick text asking for a search warrant of Smidt's property to be sent to the office so he could pick it up when he was ready.

He entered the room for questioning.

"Sorry to have kept you this long, sir. I'm not normally the man that handles this, but I imagine you would like to get this over with and go home. It's been a hard day on all of us, after all. I'll just start, shall I?"
Cramer walked over to the table, sat down and turned on his recorder. he knew they were recording what happened in this room, but he preferred to have his own copy at hand anyways.

"So, without leaving out any details, what happened this morning? Please take your time, you'll be off the hook much faster if you just give me the complete version the first time through"

[Silent Hunter]

18:19
"So, without leaving out any details, what happened this morning? Please take your time, you'll be off the hook much faster if you just give me the complete version the first time through"

"I'd just opened up the toy shop for another day. I'd served a couple of customers, then this skinhead comes in and points a gun at me. I hit the silent alarm straight away.

Then he starts ranting. He's talking about how Indians have ruined his country, taken his jobs, blown up his city and prevented him from getting a council flat. Most of it was really hard to follow.

You lot arrive, then he blows his brains out.

Oh, he did mention a Clarissa".

[MrEdwardNigma]

"I'd just opened up the toy shop for another day. I'd served a couple of customers, then this skinhead comes in and points a gun at me. I hit the silent alarm straight away.

Then he starts ranting. He's talking about how Indians have ruined his country, taken his jobs, blown up his city and prevented him from getting a council flat. Most of it was really hard to follow.

You lot arrive, then he blows his brains out.

Oh, he did mention a Clarissa".

"Hmmm, can you remember exactly what he said? About everything I mean, including this Clarissa. Oh, and did he take anything from the shop? Were there any other customers?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Hmmm, can you remember exactly what he said? About everything I mean, including this Clarissa. Oh, and did he take anything from the shop? Were there any other customers?"

"Not exactly no. He did say he'd killed Clarissa though, now I think of it.

He took nothing from the shop and there was only one other customer. A young woman, in her thirties".

[Voshkod]

The solicitor responded.

"Can you actually confront my client with the evidence rather than make cheap shots?"

"That's not my job, sweetie." Ian sat down across from O'Reilly. "All right, my son, here's the deal. I'm going out of here to write up a charge sheet. Murder, conspiracy to murder, possession of an illegal weapon, assault on an officer, attempted murder of an officer. I'll ask you be remanded to maxiumum security prison before your trial. Writing all that up is going to take me about ten minutes. When I come back in, you're going to tell me if you'll help us nail the Ukrainian. If you do, I forget all about your attempt to kill me, and I send in a charge sheet with conspiracy and the weapons charge only, and I ask you be held in local custody. So, choose wisely, because if you don't, the last sight you see of the sky and sun will be when they shove you in the prison van, my son."

Tattershall stood and walked ou.

[Hairb]

Gainsbourg followed him out of the room.
"Do you think he'll cave in?"

[Voshkod]

"Not sure," Ian said. "He clammed up pretty fast when he got his lawyer. Either she's telling him to shut up, or she's working him over for the Ukrainian. One way to find out." He flipped the switch activating the recorders.

[OOC: That's assuming UK rooms have recorders as most US ones do.]

[Silent Hunter]

"Not sure," Ian said. "He clammed up pretty fast when he got his lawyer. Either she's telling him to shut up, or she's working him over for the Ukrainian. One way to find out." He flipped the switch activating the recorders.

[OOC: That's assuming UK rooms have recorders as most US ones do.]

[OOC: Yes, they do, but I don't know how admissible this is going to be in court]

The solicitor was talking.

"Look, O'Reilly, I don't think that you'll be able to avoid naming names once you end up in Belmarsh. You admit to this, they stick you in the Scrubs, but I doubt that. There is an alternative. We can ensure that you never talk".

[Voshkod]

[OOC: Totally inadmissable and likely to get us in trouble. But Tattershall does break a rules on occasion.]

". . . ensure you never talk?" Ian blinked. "That sound like a threat to you, Gainsbourg?" He watched the two of them very carefully, ready to intervene - and ready to switch off the sound if anyone comes near.

[Hairb]

"Close enough to me. She's one of the Ukrainian's creatures then?"
He sighed.
"Let's look into her too. Discreetly though. We'll need something solid on her before we even suggest she's involved. What was her name again?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Close enough to me. She's one of the Ukrainian's creatures then?"
He sighed.
"Let's look into her too. Discreetly though. We'll need something solid on her before we even suggest she's involved. What was her name again?"

[OOC: Martina Parsons, junior solicitor of Akula Chambers, based at Middle Temple]

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Not exactly no. He did say he'd killed Clarissa though, now I think of it.

He took nothing from the shop and there was only one other customer. A young woman, in her thirties".

((Do we have that customer's contact data?))

The Hounslow murders... I was planning to look into that, but I really didn't think I had the time to take a trip there. I could have just looked up the files, but I prefer to see the evidence with my own eyes, rather than reading the report some rookie wrote up

"Did he pull out the gun straight away when entering, or did he seem to be looking for someone or something? Did he ask if you had a back exit, perhaps?"

[Silent Hunter]

((Yes, you do. She's called Anna Turner and she lives in Barking))

"He pulled out the gun straight away. He then started ranting. That's all that happened".

[Voshkod]

"Damn it, Gainsbourg, we're forgot something," Tattershall said. "We've got another witness. We need to pull in the woman from O'Reilly's place. She probably heard the whole thing." He shook his head, annoyed at himself, and listened to the rest of the conservation in the interrogation room.

[Silent Hunter]

This interview room had yet to have a camera fitted, but O'Reilly's tone of voice made it clear.

"Do it", he said meekly.

There were the sounds of fumbling in a purse.

[Voshkod]

"Oh, hell," Ian muttered as he burst through the door. If he saw a weapon, the Glock comes out. If no weapon, then he says "Well, time's up."

[Hairb]

Caught unarmed in a potentially dangerous situation for the second time that day, Luc dashed down the corridor to raise the alarm. If the lawyer really was armed, another live body in the room wouldn't do any good.

[Silent Hunter]

"Oh, hell," Ian muttered as he burst through the door. If he saw a weapon, the Glock comes out. If no weapon, then he says "Well, time's up."

There was no weapon present, but the solicitor had just sent a text message.

[Voshkod]

She had a gun, pointed at him. The Glock came out, smooth and easy, barking twice in his hand, just enough recoil to let him feel alive as she fell to the floor, two neat little circles in her pretty face . . . .

Tattershall brushed his hair back, brushed away his little fantasy. "Time's up," he said. "Gainsbourg, get in here," he called out into the hall.

He placed the charge sheet down into front of O'Reilly. "There it is, my son, you ready for the long ride down?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

19:20
There was some noise in the hallway, yelling. Cramer ignored it.

"Here's some paper and a pen, could you please write down as exactly as possible what the man said? Try not to leave anything out. I'll go get you a cup of coffee, I bet you can use it"

Alvin exited the questioning room and slowly made his way to the coffee machine, meeting Gainsbourg on the way.

"Hey there, Luc. How's the questioning going? I'm interviewing the shop clerk myself. He says Barker had no apparent reason for storming into his store. Barker could have gotten away, if he had wanted to... My theory is the drugs made him lose it, but that's just a theory. I like it when things make sense, and this just isn't too airtight for my taste. I'll be triple checking what happened in the store, just to make sure"

[Hairb]

19:20
There was some noise in the hallway, yelling. Cramer ignored it.

"Here's some paper and a pen, could you please write down as exactly as possible what the man said? Try not to leave anything out. I'll go get you a cup of coffee, I bet you can use it"

Alvin exited the questioning room and slowly made his way to the coffee machine, meeting Gainsbourg on the way.

"Hey there, Luc. How's the questioning going? I'm interviewing the shop clerk myself. He says Barker had no apparent reason for storming into his store. Barker could have gotten away, if he had wanted to... My theory is the drugs made him lose it, but that's just a theory. I like it when things make sense, and this just isn't too airtight for my taste. I'll be triple checking what happened in the store, just to make sure"

"O'Reilly's under some pretty heavy pressure from his lawyer not to say anything, it seems. She's in the Ukrainian's pocket too, probably. O'Reilly's not caving, and Ian's really given him the tough act. We won't be able to rely on a confession when all this goes before the court, we'll have to find more evidence. Have you turned up anything else interesting about Barker?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

"O'Reilly's under some pretty heavy pressure from his lawyer not to say anything, it seems. She's in the Ukrainian's pocket too, probably. O'Reilly's not caving, and Ian's really given him the tough act. We won't be able to rely on a confession when all this goes before the court, we'll have to find more evidence. Have you turned up anything else interesting about Barker?"

"Nothing new, really, besides that he was either barking mad under the influence of those drugs or clever as a fox. I'm going to take a trip to Hounslow tomorrow though, where he most likely killed a girl named Clarissa... All though... If you can prove for how long O'Reilly's had the gun, I might be able to prove he did the Hounslow killings. This Clarissa might simply be another, seperate murder... Ask O'Reilly about when he got the gun and when he gave it to Barker. Do it subtly. I'll go and gather some data"

18:38
Cramer quickly looked up all the information he could on O'Reilly's lawyer and the Hounslow killings. As he made some coffee for the clerk he called Carlton and requested a lipreader. He also requested the customer from the store to be brought in for questioning. When all that was done he returned to the questioning room and put the cup of coffee in front of the clerk.

"So, what have you been able to remember?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Nothing else really", the clerk replied, "Expect that he didn't mean to kill Clarissa and a black guy made him do it".

He handed over the notes of what he had been able to recall.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Nothing else really", the clerk replied, "Expect that he didn't mean to kill Clarissa and a black guy made him do it".

He handed over the notes of what he had been able to recall.

Cramer looked at the notes. It was pretty much an empty page, with the name Clarissa on it, circled. "I didn't mean to kill her, I swear. It was that filthy black that made me do it". Cramer nodded.

"Did he mention how the black guy made him do it?"

[Silent Hunter]

"Did he mention how the black guy made him do it?"

"No, sadly".

[MrEdwardNigma]

19:40

"All right, you're free to go. We'll contact you should we need any more information"

Cramer and the clerk exited the building together, but Cramer didn't speak a word. He did give the clerk an absent-minded nod as they went their seperate ways. He went to his car, and returned to the base.

20:10
A half an hour. That was pretty fast for Cramer. He went up the stairs and returned to his lab, where he dug up the tapes and started dusting the gun for fingerprints. He wondered when his lipreader was going to arrive.

[Voshkod]

"Get up," Tattershall said flatly to O'Reilly. He cuffed his hands tightly behind him. "Just in case, sweetie," he said to the attorney. "In case he's a flight risk. We'll get you his new contact info when he's settled in prison."

Tattershall shoved O'Reilly out into the hallway. "Let's go, my son," he said, pushing him along just a little faster then O'Reilly's feet could handle. Humiliation, fear, anger, and despair. Those are my weapons now, Ian thought with a bit of savage joy.

When they got to the charging desk, he pushed the plumber down in the chair and attached the cuffs to it. "All right, Mr. O'Reilly here should be run up on murder, conspiracy to murder, illegal possession of a firearm, attempted murder of an officer of the law, assault on same. We think he's a danger and a flight risk, and we ask he be remanded to maximum security. During transfer, we ask that he remain shackled and that he be given a bullet-proof vest. As we think there is a chance that someone may attempt to kill him, we ask he be put in solitare."

He leaned forward, right next to O'Reillly's ear, and whispered, "This is really it, my son. This is your very last chance to talk."

[Silent Hunter]

20:10
A half an hour. That was pretty fast for Cramer. He went up the stairs and returned to his lab, where he dug up the tapes and started dusting the gun for fingerprints. He wondered when his lipreader was going to arrive.

The Stechkin had the prints of O'Reilly and Barker on.

The lipreader arrived at that point, a middle-aged black man with early baldness.

"Evening, Flash", he asked.

[MrEdwardNigma]

The Stechkin had the prints of O'Reilly and Barker on.

The lipreader arrived at that point, a middle-aged black man with early baldness.

"Evening, Flash", he asked.

20:11
"Oh. They told you about my nickname, did they? No matter. I need you to analyse these videotapes. I'll be making a call out in the hallway. Just try to analyse as much of the talking as you can and write it down"

Cramer nodded to the man and exited into the hallway and took out his cellphone. He called Gainsbourg.
"Hello, Luc? This is Alvin"
Alvin never did quite get used to caller recognition. He always stated his name on the phone, even though the people on the other side already knew who he was.
"I've checked the Stechkin for prints. It seem O'Reilly's touched it. I'd ask him about it, and if he tries to deny it we've got him. I'll check the cellphone now, to get you some more evidence"
Cramer hung up and returned to the lab, where he started digging through the memory of the cellphone as the lip reader analysed the tapes.