Mid-West Campaign
Session Twelve

Wednesday, 18 October 2000 (continued)

Jane heads for a much needed rest. She and Black sleep away much of the rest of the day. In the evening Jane directs some of the activity of the FBI in Texas clearing up the rest of case BV004, but she is mostly there for Black. There is still no word from Joshua Blackthorne. Last night he was rushed back to hospital again with chronic stomach pains.

Thursday, 19 October 2000

Joshua discharges himself from hospital and returns to his hotel where he meets with Nathan Harlow. Not realising Harlow is dead, Joshua has a long conversation with him. Harlow is distracted. He talks to Josh about the Joker case - he is convinced that Artemis Black has some link with the Joker. He says that they have missed something. Harlow leaves.

Joshua phones Jane who immediately tells him what happened. Joshua doesn't believe Jane at first, and refuses to credit that he was talking to the ghost of Harlow. he leaves Quantico immediately and flies to New Orleans, arriving in Jane's hotel room at midday. As Josh, Black and Jane are about to discuss the matter, Harlow's replacement in the team Special Agent Elise Steiger arrives. Josh asks for her to wait in the lobby while the other agents discuss this matter.

Black tells Josh everything he told Jane yesterday. They show him the videotape of Harlow's death and eventually he believes them. But if Harlow is dead then who did he speak to this morning? And is there really a connection between the Joker and Black? At this point Artemis gets a text message from Nathan Harlow. Harlow again says that they have missed something in the Joker case. He also says that he downstairs in the lobby.

Elise Steiger gets a coffee and waits downstairs. Nathan Harlow (looking perfectly alive) has a brief conversation with her, buys a magazine and walks out. The other agents arrive, and inform Elise that the Harlow's double or his spirit is walking around. Joshua goes to the newsagent and asks after Harlow, only to discover that a pornographic magazine has been charged to the team's account. Elise is getting a little freaked by these proceedings. Black phones Harlow who says he is in the car park.

Joshua completely freaks out at this, and has a strange psychotic episode. While Elise and Jane remain downstairs and try to comfort Joshua, Black meets with Harlow upstairs in the room. Black does his best to convince Harlow that he is dead, but Nathan is having none of that. He tells Black that they have missed something, and tells him that he has some connection with the Joker. Apparently a 'contact' Nathan spoke to on Wednesday (the day after he died) told him so. But what contact? Before Artemis can ask Nathan he takes his eyes off him for a second and Nathan is gone.

Believing a conspiracy, Jane and Joshua go to the New Orleans FBI evidence locker (currently relocated at the morgue) to find Nathan's mobile phone. They briefly remove it from the locker, and find nothing untoward. As they are looking at the phone the spirit of Harlow telephones them. Jane is really pleased to hear from Harlow, and is glad that she still gets a chance to talk with him even though he is dead. She asks Nathan if she can adopt Bobby, and he agrees.

The speed at which Jane accepts this turn of events further disquiets Joshua who goes completely nuts. He cannot cope with the fact he is conversing with a ghost. Joshua is later diagnosed with megalomania and placed on medication.

There is supposed to be no record of the events of 18 October 2000. All the internal cameras went down when the power went off. However, Nathan's laptop that was in the secure room with him was connected back to Wichita by a secure link. Munroe, Black, Blackthorne and Elise Steiger view the recording of Nathan's grisly death. Suddenly the computer starts the bleed, the hard-drive crashes and the only thing left on the screen is the image of a Joker. This further freaks out Josh.

Meanwhile the obsessed spirit of Harlow goes to see Wyatt Wayman. He asks Wyatt for help who assumes Harlow is a sick impostor. When Wyatt and his men shoot Harlow they inflict great pain but do not injure him. Harlow is finally convinced he is really dead and runs away. Wayman and his men go into denial and refuse to admit this event ever took place.

Friday, 20 October 2000

Blackthorne, Black, Munroe and Steiger return to Texas vowing to research the Joker on the sly. They tie off all the loose ends of case BV004. Terri Madison's evidence is likely to bring down quite a few people. Clive Fenner is looking at fifteen years. The agents are pleased to hear that Vera Sneddon-Small has been arrested for assaulting a judge and is likely to go to prison for it. Sneddon-Small's accountant, Lucy McGee has also been arrested as has Adam Yoshima - the owner of the white van that collected the artefact from Hernandez's warehouse.

Saturday, 21 October 2000

The agents return to Wichita. Ignoring Elise, everyone is due four weeks trauma leave because of recent events - with the exception of Artemis Black who is able to take six weeks. For once, the agents believe taking this leave would be a good idea.

Jane Munroe takes over Nathan's apartment (as she did not yet have a place to live in Wichita). She spends some time getting to know Bobby and boxing up Nathan's prodigious collection of pornography.

Friday, 3 November 2000

The holiday of the agents is cut short at 02:00. Joshua Blackthorne gets a call from Eisenstein. He is coming to Wichita and wants everyone to meet him at HQ. On the way in Jane hears terrible news on the radio. Apache Joe has struck again. The latest victim is Kirsty Faber, found down a deep hole in Pecos, Texas. Jane knows Kirsty extremely well! They were at medical school together. They were best of friends. Jane thinks of Kirsty's parents more favourably than she thinks of her own. Kirsty arrives at HQ in high distress. Blackthorne, Black and Steiger are already there.

At 04:00 Eisenstein arrives in Wichita. He is accompanied by Special Agent Valerie Hudson (5'2", in her late fifties). Eisenstein has just come from a meeting with the president. He confirms the agents' suspicions that their involvement in cases of a supernatural nature is not an accident. All the evidence response teams that answer to him have this remit. He was trying the groups out on a few cases to see how they would handle it. The agents' propensity to cover everything up made him doubt they were suitable initially. He gives all the agents a table made of special maize that may be proof against the brain bugs if taken every six weeks. He also says that he has a contact called Alan Hamblin III who can supply occult tomes. One such book, the Celaeno Fragments can be made available to one member of the group. Artemis volunteers to read it.

To everyone's surprise Eisenstein says he is also there to speak with the agents about Apache Joe. Kirsty Faber's body was found at 01:15 today, and her name released to the press before the parents were informed. Jane despairs at Vitrano and Lavin. Eisenstein reveals that Agent Hudson is a psychic who has recently returned from an extended secondment with the NSA. She has some thoughts about Apache Joe.

Hudson says that Kirsty is the thirty-second victim. She knows that the thirty-fourth victim will be Kara Cass in Val Verda on 5 April 2001. The thirty-fifty victim will be Lucille Jimminez on 6 August 2001 in Knox. From those dates Elise quickly extrapolates that the next murder will be on 4 January 2001. Jane becomes excited that there is a chance to apprehend Apache Joe.

Eisenstein makes is clear that they must not officially investigate case S73. They have other cases that they must be seen to be doing. However, he had no problem with them investigating this and the Joker case in their spare time. Joshua believes they can make some headway in both these cases in the remaining two weeks of trauma leave the agents have. Eisenstein agrees, and he and Hudson prepare to leave. Black asks Hudson is she can tell the agents anything about the Joker. She says she cannot. Unlike Apache Joe the Joker is not a force that exists on this world.

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