Mid-West Campaign
Session Thirty-Two

Wednesday, 13 December 2000 (continued)

Jane and Nathan arrive in Los Angeles at 3:30pm PST where they meet Ecks and Burchill. The pair had been observing a fishing community in St Martins, Vermont (case 0021-GCF) before being sent to LA by Eisenstein. They have been waiting for the others to arrive for several hours. Jane introduces Todd, and then briefs the pair in the car before heading to the 29th Precinct.

Desk Sergeant Johnson informs the group that Captain Henries is busy. Special Agent Owen Sawell of the Child Protection washed up on Venice Beach this morning. He was wearing an FBI wetsuit and had suffocated (although there was still air in his tank). Henries is preparing a press release. Jane insists they see the captain and he is summoned.

Jane explains the confidential nature of her investigation to Henries, but promises to share all she can with him. The two police officers who discovered the bodies of all six members of the west coast team are Mark Renton and Pedro Fernandez. Both are on compassionate leave. The whole matter is being kept secret on Eisenstein's instructions. Currently no link has been made between case LA10749 and Sawell's death, but Henries will keep the team informed.

The group now splits up. Jane and Ecks head to the Clayton County Morgue to examine the bodies of the west coast team. Nathan, Burchill take Todd and head to the west coast headquarters to go through their files. Once in Beverley Hills, Nathan and Jack discover a veritable palace.

Located in the shadow of the Hollywood sign, the west coast headquarters is an enormous rambling four-floor mansion designed to look as though it was built in the Colonial Period. The agents are let in by the officers on the gate, and drive around the building. There are extensive lawns, a swimming pool, a maze, a helipad (no helicopter) and a two-storey car park around the back that is larger than the Wichita HQ. In that garage in an impressive collection of motorcycles, sportscars an (incongruously) an ice cream truck and a dilapidated baker's van. There is also an hydraulic lift to a workshop. The agents get out of the car and are met by the butler, Schult. Harlow is quickly planning on how he will be transferred to this team.

Schult gives the agents refreshments and key-cards that access all the areas of the building open to regular FBI officers. Schult says that he has worked here for twenty years and is part of a staff that includes a cook and three maids. Schult knows that the west team have died. He says that they had worked here in their current configuration for five years. The longest serving member of the team was Alan Cummings who had worked here for seven years.

Schult shows the agents around. The HQ is divided up into quarters - the conservatory in the centre of the building is home for the atrium and the indoor swimming pool. The east wing is the FBI quarter with offices and conference rooms for visiting agents as well as the west coast team's private offices accessible only through a key-card activated man-trap (an airlock that imprisons unwanted guests). The west wing is the guest quarters including a dining room and the kitchens. The front wing of the house is the reception wing, capable of entertaining many guests. Harlow and Burchill are impressed (especially by the cars). Harlow has Todd taken to a quiet room in the guest wing, with the Apache Joe case to work on. He then asks Schult to show him to the west coast team's vault - located behind the Turner on a second floor room in the east wing.

After being stopped by a local sheriff for speeding Jane and Ecks arrive at the Clayton County morgue where they meet the matronly coroner, Dr Dewey. The bodies of the west coast team have not been touched yet, Dewey has assigned Mallory Eyres to aid in the autopsies. Jane politely declines the offer and the two start a forensic examination of the bodies.

All the dead agents were wearing light body armour, and all were carrying money, their wallets and ID and a large key fob that they think may be useful back at the west HQ. Each also has a mobile phone that may prove useful. Jane first scans the bodies for Brain Bugs, but finds no sign of the parasites.

Alan Cummings carried a extremely high quality M1991AX .45 ACP pistol and he had shot 14 bullets from it (and reloaded once). He has another gun and a knife strapped to each ankle. He has three bullet wounds. Two low-calibre shots to the head (one in the eye, one in the forehead) and one high calibre wound grazed his thigh.

Dr Mathew Wilson is badly mangled. He carried a Glok 9mm (unfired), and a dictaphone containing the licentious text of a pornographic book he was evidently writing. He has six bullet wounds: two to the right leg, one to the left arm, two in the abdomen and one in the torso. All shots are mid to high calibre.

Dr Klaus Goldfarb took the worst of it. He has been shot 12 times - 10 bullets to the torso and abdomen (probably from an automatic weapon), plus two head shots from a low calibre weapon. His trousers are stained an odd colour.

Dr Anthony Tate has a large bruise to the head, but no gunshot wounds. He carried a 9mm Sigsaur that had been fired five times. He also carries a clipping of a 1941 news article - "Stray discovered in Veteran's Park" - a story about a St Bernard.

Dr Jennifer Summers carries a small metal case with two prepared syringes (one probably containing adrenaline) and a various other items Jane recognises as a well-equipped medical kit. There is no visible sign of a cause of death.

Paul Hilderbrandt was obviously a gun nut. He is dressed entirely in leather that was reinforced with kevlar in certain places. He carried two .45 calibre pistols and fired off one clip from each gun. He took five mid-calibre rounds: three to the torso and two in the abdomen. There is also bruising around his arms, legs, head and neck.

A cursory examination of the bodies tells Jane and Ecks that none of the gunshots were post-mortem, but all were fired at close range. Jane also scans them for evidence of Brain Bugs (fearing they were commanded to kill each other), but finds no sign of the parasites.

Jane autopsies Jennifer Summers looking for a cause of death. It seems that she was suffocated - although Jane finds no evidence as to how this could have been the case. Ecks does some ballistic work in the meantime. He can tell that none of the gun-shots were post mortem and that all were fired at close range. The pair call it a night and arrive back to the west HQ at 10:30pm.

Jane phones the company who made the vault (Westburg Vault) and arranges to Fedex over details so they can send someone in the morning to dismantle the vault. Hopefully they will then gain access to the west coast computer. She also speaks to Todd and gets him to the create an itinerary in Hollywood for the Dale sisters so they can them out of Texas before Apache Joe strikes.

Meanwhile in Casper, Wyoming a hospital-bound Artemis Black receives a cheque for $5,000,000 from Gerald Wolford (representative for his publishers) - all royalties for the book Victim Schmictim.

Thursday, 14 December 2000

After her morning swim Jane looks at the local paper. Artemis Black is on the front page receiving an enormous cheque. She also reads that he is to produce a Sci-Fi TV series called Dark Files. She wonders how he finds the time. Also she gets a call from Benedict Oaxaca from Casper. He has also read the paper. The FBI agent who was washed up on Venice Beach (Owen Sawell) was a friend of his died was a friend of his. They worked together on case MX234-867-PNG during 1990 and 1991. Jane promises to do what she can to get to the bottom of this case too.

Jane tires to use the key fob to enter through the mantrap into the west coast team's offices. Unfortunately it requires a voice recognition as well, and Jane is trapped until she can be freed by the security company, Sabre Security. To expedite matters Burchill and Ecks take the $1.5m MacClaren for the garage and head to the firm's headquarters. On the way back they hit the rush hour traffic and are rear-ended by the Sabre Security truck, rendering stunningly expensive damage to the sports car. Burchill remains with the car waiting for two truck while Ecks returns to HQ with Sabre Security.

Meanwhile, David an agent of Westburg Vaults has arrived and is starting work on the vault, under the watchful gaze of Nathan Harlow. He will reset the vault to work for the mid-west team. The mechanic from Sabre Securities arrives with Ecks and eventually frees Jane who is a little embarrassed. Sabre Securities leave the scene just as Burchill returns. Nathan goes back to watch David.

Burchill tells Jane that while he was waiting for a two-truck an attorney in a flash car offered to give him a lift. She gave him her card. Jane looks at the card, it simply has the name: Lillian Winter. Upstairs Harlow can suddenly hear Carmina Burana playing and he contacts Jane with the head-set radio in a complete panic. This time Jane can hear the music as well. She radios all the agents to get out the building immediately. Suddenly all the lights go out. The Joker has murder on his mind.

Upstairs in the vault room, Harlow is alone with David. Suddenly David is eviscerated in front of Nathan. Nathan fires his gun at a point where he believes the Joker to be.....

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