Season 1: Episode 1 - Meetings and Mission

[TetNak]

James Jackson Lewis has remained silent for the most part, listening and waiting until the time is right. The preacher then stands and addresses Williams, "Call me Brother Lewis, or Brother, I ain't a priest." Waving his Bible he says, "Brothers, this was the the church where I preached the word of God!" He takes a deep breath, "It was a small church, but we were saving souls every day! Those that work of the Devil have come to stop this great work of God! And indeed they have Brothers. For the church has been temporarily closed!"

The man starts to sweat, and pulls out his hankerchief, dabbing his forehead. "Brothers! This occult voodoo nonsense is nothing by the Devil's work. This murder is exactly the product of that work and Satan's attempt to bind my hands from saving souls and delivering them to our saviour Jesus Christ, who died for our sins on Golgotha! Brothers I won't be swayed, but I won't allow this Satanists to harm other Brothers from spreading the word of God!"

After taking a deep breath the man looks around, answering questions about the upside down cross. "That cross is a mockery, indeed, of our Lord's power and wisdom on Earth. Whoever the killers are, they are obviously worshipers of the Devil! The police and FBI should look through their files of these known people and arrest them for the glory of God."

[Bitom]

the ST will step in at this point to help the detective out some.

There were a few partial fingerprings on the nails, which are unlikely to be usable, but a computer check is running on them. It has so far returned no matches and isn't expected to.

Hair and fiber collected evidence of dozens of seperate people, as is to be expected on a busy street. It may be useful to prove that someone was at the scene, but is useless to find that someone.

There is NO blood at the scene, aside from that on the nails and a little on the door. The victim was very dry She dripped not at all. Ditto other body fluids.

There was a footprint found at the scene in a flowerbed. Size 9 work boot from WalMart. No reason to believe it's connected to the crime, no evidence that it's not. Like hair and fiber, it could be useful for prosecution, not for detection.

Interviews were taken: Nobody admits to seeing anything.

This is as clean a crimescene as it gets.

[Twilightling]

"I think there isn't much point in waiting here and juggling with words, and unless there is some fact that we don't know by now, I suggest that we went to the church to see the crime scene, we mind find something useful there, missed by the CSI team.
What would you all say about that?"
The FBI agent looks around, expecting some answer.

[Vardaen]

Dective Williams can help by smile at Robert's comment about the recording device of Blaine. "Like I said before, there was NO blood at the scene. Nothing, not a drop. Which leads me to believe the point of the blood letting, was to get the blood. I've sent out a request to have all the local blood banks checked for any recent boost in stock, and if so will be running a DNA match to see if its our Vic's blood." He collects his files up from everyone after they are done, putting his case file back together, counting the pictures to make sure nothing is missing, giving Blaine and Cliff a double check to make sure they haven't stolen anything. "Excuse me if I'm wrong Brother Lewis, but wasn't Saint Peter crucified upside down on request to show respect to Jesus? Or some such thing? I'm no Catholic, but I know my share of relious lore." He then fills in the group on all the other details....<Insert Storytellers Comments Here: Thanks Bitom>

"...and so that's about it." He finishes and nods to the FBI Agent, "I think its a good enough place to start, unless Mr Boyle has something else to add."

[Bitom]

Boyle nods. "I do, in fact." He looks at Blaine. "As I'm sure you're aware, Mr. Wyckson. If anything we've said here gets out to the public before jury selection is complete on this case, the people who did this will be unable to get a fair trial, and according to the constitution of our state and that of the United States, if the government is unable to conduct a fair trial, no conviction can be handed down."

"Put plainly, you have at your disposal a fantastic exclusive look at the progress of this case, but if you publish too soon, you will be singlehandedly responsible for making absolutly certain that the killer walks free. Is that enough to stay your hand, sir?

"If not, I would be more than happy to detail at length how angry our mutual employer would be if this were to come to pass. Then I might go on to remind you of the extrodinary amount of money and influence that he has."

It's not clear if he's saying that Mr Cross would hire a hitman, or just push his influence around enough to leave Blaine penniless and on the streets. It's also not clear which would be the greater threat to make. Nobody in the room doubts Mr. Cross's ability to do either. He's something of a public figure. Enough so that even those of you from out of town have heard his name. The lawyer Boyle, meanwhile, never raises his voice while spelling out this implied doom. He doesn't even loook upset. His tone is purely informative.

[Geist]

Blaine Wyckson laughs goodheartedly at Robert Maines' comment and retorts, "Just like I got your last, I'm sure."

But when Boyle makes his statement for clarity's sake, he stops the tape and acts like he wants to cut him off at the words "...fair trial", but he waits; anger and disgust fills and spills over in him until the lawyer has finished his speech.

"Listen! If you knew anything at all about me or my work, you probably wouldn't bother trying to make me out to be so goddamn petty by handing me the usual crap! I've heard this all before and I've worked with the police before. I've had few complaints about the way I've handled myself or the timeliness of my reporting, and I don't intend to be preached at again about this just because I'm a member of the media! I make recordings so that I don't have to rely on my own memory or notation to get the facts straight and the quotes in their proper context. If anyone has a problem with that, I'll leave. I'm here because Mr. Cross knows I can do my job; efficiently and discreetly. So, mister lawyer-man, you can save your veiled threats for someone who could incur Mr. Cross' wrath by doing their job, and let me get on with mine. Otherwise you can kiss my ass as it heads out the door, then you can be the one to explain to Mr. Cross why I was unable to perform!"

[Bitom]

Buyle doesn't seem any more taken aback by Blaine's righteous fury than he was by the preacher's religious furvor earlier. Instead, he smiles in the face of the assault, and speaks as if Blaine had simply aquiesced to his suggestion, which, stripped of anger and insult, is exactly what he has done.

"Good," he says, "I'm glad we are on the same page, then." And then he turns to the group at large. "I think I'll take my leave of you all now. If I may offer one more suggestion, it would be to exchange phone numbers.... oh... I nearly forgot."

He opens his briefcase and pulls out a number of forms. "With the exception of those of you who are government employees, who cannot accept due to legal restrictions, Mr. Cross wishes you to be in his employ while you continue with the group. The Salary is only ten thousand per year, but since the hours are completely flexible, I think you'll find it bolsters your existing incomes nicely. If you accept, please take one of these packets and mail it using the letter included."

The packets clearly contain W-4's and other standard employment documents, nothing more. The contract details no specific tasks, no benefits, and no vacation time. In fact the only specific thing it does say is that the contract can be terminated by either party at any time for any reason whatsoever.

[Brennor]

Cliff flips through his rushed notes a couple of times before looking up at the FBI agent's words.

"I agree. Being at the site will tell us more than the pictures will. However, I expect that it has already been cleaned up by now?" He tosses a glance at the Detective as he poses this question.

"Regardless, there will probably still be something there that will show it really was a crude gang that perpetrated this assault."

[WorldEater]

Robert leans forward in his chair, looks around at the group, and smiles.

"Cliff, I'm not sure that I agree entirely that the killers were a crude gang. But one thing that I'm sure we all agree on is that we need to find and stop these bastards before someone else is murdered."

The middle-aged officer leans back for a moment while the others in the room murmur their agreement.

"Detective, what's our next step? Where do we go from here? Personally, I'd like to see us put together our wide range of talents to work towards a solution rather than bickering back and forth in this crappy little meeting room."

"In any case," he says as he gets up from the cloth-backed steel chair, "I need some coffee. Anyone else?"

[Vardaen]

Detective Keith Williams is about to reply to the mediaman, but Boyle says everything he's ever wanted to say to a reporter, and with the nice added threat that he has never been able to add. He lets the W-2s hit the table and then continues.

"The crime scene is cleaned up now, both the fact that it was on busy main street, and the front steps of a church rushed the process. There isn't anything left there of value. I won't stop you from going to look, but I expect you won't find more than the CSI." He closes up his breif case and looks up at the clock.

*Tick-Toc*

"Perhaps Mr.Hajo or the rest of you would want to see the body? I think you will see its farily clear that the wounds weren't self inflicted. Unless of course the woman rose up from the dead to do them herself, after beign attacked." He lets out a forced laugh at the thought. "Trouble is the department is at a loss now. Nothing at the scene, nothing off the vic, and no real leads." He rubs his face, "So what Mr.Cross is paying you people for it to think outside the box. What do we do now?"