Mid-West Campaign
Session Sixty-Two

Monday, 14 May 2001

Agents Turn and Jones take Winterset's only taxi to the airport in Des Moines. Jane assumes that they will let the correctional institution know that Raphael has "escaped". Jane and Alex head to Jake's Field to collect Alex's overly expensive car. They meet the field owner, Jake Jakeson, and collect the vehicle. Drake wants the drive the car back to Wichita, but Jane doesn't really want to suffer the three day car journey again. She insists that Alex ship the car freight, and is even willing to sign off the $2000 cost on Alex's expenses.

Alex checks his warranty carefully to see if it will be sent back for repairs in Winterset if is damaged during the rail journey. It will not. "I wish it was," says Alex absent-mindedly and suddenly the text of the warranty changes and many more pages are added. Drake is suddenly holding the most comprehensive warranty ever (it ever covers missile strike). But why did this happen? Did it have anything to do with the cracker that Raphael gave to the pair. Did this grant Drake a wish? Has he wasted it on changing the small print of his car warranty (not that Drake considers it a waste). Does Jane therefore have a wish sitting in her pocket?

The agents head to Des Moines and leave Drake's car at a rail freight depot. It will be delivered literally to the door of the mid-west HQ in about a week. Then the two catch a plane and arrive back in headquarters early in the evening. Almost as soon as they arrive, the telephone rings. Jane can sense that it is Artemis on the other end. There is a sinking dread in the pit of her stomach. Indeed it is Artemis. He has phoned to see how Jane is, and how she is coping with the bad news. What bad news? Jane has heard no bad news! Artemis apologises and puts the phone down.

In a panic as to what close friend or relative has met their end, Jane telephones Todd. She is extremely relieved when Todd tells her that the "bad news" Artemis mentioned was that Eisenstein has been found dead. News of the even it is vague as it only happened forty minutes ago. He was attending a meeting in Los Angeles and was on his way back to the east coast. He was found dead in his plane seat 35,000 feet above Dallas.

Todd is surprised that she isn't taking news of the death badly. If it wasn't for Eisenstein Jane wouldn't even be in the FBI. But she doesn't have a high opinion of Eisenstein (his lack of effort to help Josh really sealed it). He never did anything that wasn't to his own advantage. He had an agenda. A disgruntled Todd points out that Michael Levin also has an agenda. The two begin to argue and eventually slam the phone down on one another.

Jane phones Artemis and asks if there is anything she can do to help. He finds the thought quite amusing. No, no… he can handle things. He is waiting at the airport in New York for the plane with Eisenstein's body on to touch down. He is going to give the case to his A1 team: the East Coast Team.

Meanwhile Alex checks the Russian captives and finds that they are gone from the cells. There is a picture pinned to the wall of weird of a number of new in military fatigues, holding the Russians and waving at the surveillance cameras. At least Levin kept his word on that.

With no part to play in the Eisenstein case, Jane is free to open a new case for the mid-west team. Drake points out that he is only three months away from his Senior Agent Exam and needs some practice in leading on a case. Jane who is (unjustly she thinks) nearly four years away from her exams, says that she doesn't have the authority to assign a case for Drake to investigate. Not even the case of why he was dead and then got better.

Jane opens case ES174. This will be the third time they have tried to start this case. She telephones New Orleans and speaks to Agent Reismaus. He gives her the following additional information:

Peter Ellis Dean was a law clerk at the respected McCollins, Gillette and Couvert law firm. He had been arrested twice for breaching local civil disobedience ordinances (Louisiana Race Acts). He was a member of the "Law For All" Civil Rights movement and had been missing since 1962. The car was found by Louise Roche, a local resident of Estelle County and daughter of prominent land owner, Christopher Roche.

The car can be found at the Estelle County sheriff's department. The body (or what is left of it) is still in the boot of the car. They will need to talk to Sheriff Albert Hanson who has the rest of the information. Drake points out that the 1959 Eldorado Seville Coupe is very rare, and that only 975 were ever made. If the car could be restored it would be worth about $80,000.

Jane telephones her sister to see how she is to discover that she is currently moving into Jane's tiny apartment in Wichita, and has just found Harlow's stash of porn. She leaves Alex to buy the plane tickets, says that she will meet him at the airport and races his home. She finds a team of removers trying to squeeze most of her father's furniture (including a piano) into her flat.

She finds Danni who confesses to have taken a fair amount of furniture from the family home when their father was out. Jane says that it all needs to be sent back. She also gives Danni three alternatives of other apartments in the immediate area that she has found - but not to do anything until she gets back from Louisiana.

The two talk about Todd, and she knows about the telephone conversation the air recently shared. But Danielle seems to be rather dazzled with Levin's money and wants Jane to marry him. Jane says that she no intention of marrying anyone. She heads off to the airport, after giving the movers instructions to return most of the furniture to Augusta.

At the airport, Drake is sitting in his car trying to summon coffee and doughnuts. He is a little too successful as he manages to summon sufficient of both to completely bury his car. When Jane pulls up she sees a large pile of doughnuts in the carpark. Then her phone rings. She despairs and tells Drake to meet her inside. Drake appears a few minutes later completely covered in jam, icing sugar and batter and smelling of a strong Jamaican blend.

Drake showers and the pair catch a flight to New Orleans (about five miles from Estelle County). Jane is a little overwhelmed by returning to the same motel she stayed at after learning of the (first) death of Nathan Harlow. She retires for the evening. Drake is about to go to bed when he has a visitor in his room: it is the ghostly Kirsty Faber. Kirsty asks after Drake, and says that she met him during the time he was dead, although he was very rude on that occasions. Drake says that he has no memory of this period. Kirsty intimates that if he takes her to dinner, she'll tell him everything she knows.

In a quiet Italian restaurant, Kirsty tells Drake that she saw him when he was 'touring' the sort of places the unquiet dead hang out in. He was badly burned and crispy back then and was talking to a large man (probably the Archangel Mike, Drake thinks). Kirsty approached him as she recognised him, but he brushed her off. Drake explains that he may not have been himself back then. Kirsty says that she came to see Alex for a reason. She has a message from someone Jane knows, a message about The Game. However, she can't remember what it is. She'll come back and tell him another time. And then she vanishes.

Tuesday, 15 May 2001

Jane is dismayed to learn that Kirsty appeared and didn't come and see her. She phones the sheriff's office in Estelle County and is surprised by the response. The deputy on the line doesn't expect her to turn up and collect the car, he is very dismissive and won't even carry a message to the sheriff.

At the sheriff's station, the agents speak to Deputy Don Oliver. He says that they are the sixth team to come and collect the car, but all the previous agents have lost interest. The sheriff isn't in it, but the deputy has no problem with the agents looking at the vehicle.

The car is in the car park behind the sheriff's office. It is covered in a tarpaulin and is kept moist. As they approach the vehicle, Drake immediately loses interest. He says that it is not worth it, that there are many other cases that better deserve their attention. He says they should go back to Wichita. Jane finds his change of heart remarkable. She thinks the investigation won't come to much but they have to do it. But Drake can't be bothered. He goes back to the police office to wait for her.

Jane takes off the tarpaulin and looks at the car. The windscreen is intact and there are no gross dents. There are tide marks and much moss over everything. The car was a soft top, but only the skeleton of the roof remains. The inside is filled with swamp muck. She touches the car, and as she does so she hears a scream. However, she soon forgets this. She is suddenly of the opinion that this is a complete waste of time and returns to the sheriff's office. She and Drake leave and go back to their motel in New Orleans. They say they will come back and speak to the sheriff later, but the deputy does not believe them. He has seen it all before.

They spend the afternoon in the motel, and Jane books tickets to go back to Wichita. Drake spends the time trying to summon Kirsty from the spirit world and he succeeds on two occasions to find him in various states of undress (she doesn't stay long). Jane tells him to stop doing that.

The apathy that gripped Drake wears off as the day progresses, although Jane's mood is unchanged. Drake says that while they are in Louisiana they should at least talk to the sheriff. After a long discussion, Jane is eventually persuaded to go so Drake is not left alone, but she is not getting out the car.

After a small detour when Drake gets lost in the bayou, the agents return to the sheriff's department in early evening. Drake goes in and talks to the sheriff alone. The deputy is surprised that Drake even came back. Sheriff Hanson gives Drake a little more information than Reismaus did:

Louise Roche found the car in the bayou behind the back of her father's cotton plantation. Although the car was licensed to Peter Ellis Dean, it didn't belong to him. It belonged to Christopher Rock, a black man from New York City. Rock would never have been allowed to keep such a car in Louisiana at the time, so it was obviously signed over to Dean. Hanson also says that this matter was passed over to the FBI eighteen months ago. Drake assures him that he and Jane will deal with it. He hires flat-bed truck to collect the car in the morning and transport it to Wichita.

Wednesday, 16 May 2001

Jane is still completely apathetic in the morning. Drake has purpose, but is also beset by a throbbing headache. He persuades Jane to come with him, and races their hired 4×4 at top speed to keep their appointment with the workmen. Unfortunately, the workmen are no more spurred into action by the car than Jane is. The apathy field descends on them and the workmen (and Jane) head off to the nearest café, leaving a flabbergasted Drake alone in the carpark.

The sheriff explains these were the same workmen he hired to drag the car out of the bayou in the first place. It was odd; they are usually quite reliable but it took them two months to get around to hauling the car to its current location. A furious Drake storms over to the café and confronts the workers. They insist on being allowed to finish their statutory lunch hour (it has now gone midday). Drake phones their superiors, but even they have no effect on the workers. The foreman says that they need an extra bit of kit to move the car and need to return to the depot. Drake accompanies them on the four hour round trip only to discover the bit of equipment was in their truck all the time. By now it is 4:00pm and the workers knock off for the day claiming "bad light". They head off to a near-by hotel and promise to return first thing in the morning.

Drake is now so wound up he determines to move the car himself. He reverses the flat-bed truck into the car park and goes to attach the straps to the car's jack points. This is where he falls down. He gets too close to the vehicle and is gripped by incredible apathy. He gives up on the whole idea and goes to the café, where Jane has been sitting all reading a novel. The pair decide to head back to Wichita tonight and meet the workmen there. Unfortunately, they cannot get two tickets that evening and are forced to wait until 6:00am the next day.

Thursday 17 May, 2001

The pair are up at an ungodly time for their flight, but both have managed to throw off their apathy this morning. Jane has a the world's worst hangover, and Drake is also suffering (although he manages to will his onto Jane, making her feel even worse). The pair talk and they realise that it is the car that is causing this terrible lack of interest. Just being near the vehicle and - especially - touching it causes them to be overcome with a 'can't-be-bothered' attitude. It's like that mysterious brick discovered by the west coast team, but in reverse. The car is the anti-brick.

Then Drake's phone rings: it is a livid Sheriff Hanson. Drake left the flat-bed in the car-park yesterday and now none of the police cars can get in. The agents hurry over there as Jane puts their flights back (again). Realising that the workmen are probably going to be no-more inclined to move this thing today than they were yesterday, the agents decide to move it themselves. Jane writes each of them a note explaining the nature of the car and they try to approach it.

Drake turns back almost immediately, but Jane makes it to the car and this time she musters the will to touch it without losing interest. Again she hears the scream, and this time she remembers it. With Drake disinclined to even give her instructions, Jane attaches the straps to the jack points and attempts to hoist the car onto the truck. Unfortunately, she neglects to extend the support legs and the truck begins to tip over. Jane stops the process but tons of truck are left balancing precariously over her head, ready to crush her flat.

Eventually, Drake can be prevailed upon to tell her what to do, and she kicks the lever that activates the support legs. Because of the angle, two of the legs get a bit mangled as they are extended, but the truck is righted and the car slung on the back of it. Drake can be prevailed to drive the truck away and fourteen hours later they have both arrived in the underground car park at the Wichita HQ, where Drake easily swings the remains of the Eldorado Coupe into a vacant parking space.

Jane telephones the haulage company that owned the truck. They are very cross, and threaten to take legal action about Jane and Drake stealing the truck. In the end they are happy to charge the FBI two days hire charge for every day the truck remains out of their possession. Jane agrees to this. Then she tries to unhook the straps from the car, and is utterly overwhelmed by apathy.

Jane decides to go home and storms out of the HQ. Drake hires a driver to take the flat-bed back to Estelle County, where it can have its legs repaired before being returned to the haulage firm. He is too apathetic to do anything to car.

Jane returns home to find her apartment completely empty. She telephones Danni. Her sister has found somewhere for them to live. She has used their father's money to put a deposit down on a little farmhouse thirty minutes outside Wichita. Jane is livid. This was not one of the three choices she gave Danni, and she expected to be consulted on this. "It's not good enough, Danni!" she exclaims and slams down the phone. She storms back to HQ to sleep there.

Friday, 18 May 2001

In the morning, both agents try to approach the Eldorado Coupe, but neither Jane nor Alex can do so without feeling overwhelming apathy. Knowing what has happened, but not largely caring about it, Jane says it is time to open a new case and they turn to case FB563 the next oldest case on their books. Jane hopes they will be able to revisit ES174 periodically and eventually someone will be able to do a forensic examination of the car.

Jane telephones Leading Agent Elizabeth Crum in Richmond, Virginia. Crum is a little peeved that the agents have taken six months to get back to her. The scene of the crime is now completely contaminated as they have had to re-use the evidence locker. Jane says that evidence response has had a lot of work on, and that they have got to her as soon as they could. Crum gives Jane a list of everything that was missing from the evidence locker:

10 × M10 AZ assault rifles; 5 × Frankie Spaz shotguns; 2 × Mosburg 10-gauge shotguns; 5 × MP5 submachine guns; 12 × Sigsaur P223 pistols; 2 × .44 Magnum automatics; 3 × Colt navy pistols; 2 × smooth bore muskets; 1 × matchlock rifle; 3 × short blades; 5 × long blades; 1 × 5lb cannon; 2 cases of opening charging (each case holds twenty charges). No ammunition was stolen.

Crum says that the antique weapons in the locker had recently been recovered by the unit. She also provides a list of serial numbers for most of the weapons. The theft took place on 11 November, and it is the job of evidence response to work out how they were taken. Jane can think of many possibilities (each one more supernatural than the last) and tells Crum that they will be over in the afternoon.

Drake thinks he can use his powers to recover the weapons, and tries to summon the small naval cannon. A large cannonball materialises from nowhere and very nearly crushes his groin.

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