Log:A Darker Pied Piper, Scene 4

A Darker Pied Piper 2009/03/04 	 Regan Ferryl Jennifer Silver Spider 4

Past Time's Coffee Shop The smell of fresh coffee is the first thing that assails you. The next is the very old style. It seems the owner has gone for the Edwardian style from early last century. Lots of imitation wood paneling and prints of old English countryside. There are many partitions between the tables, affording some privacy and the sound seems hushed in the room, this has been achieved mainly through very good design, which muffles sounds. At the counter service is quite quick and cheery, conveying a welcoming and friendly attitude. The menu boasts the fact that for a little extra real coffee is served along with light hot and cold meals and snacks. All in all a pleasant place to pass a bit of time.

A man comes into Past Times and looks around. He is a handsome man, but would be more so if he didn't have two days or more of stubble on his square jaw. Or if his dark brown eyes didn't look so tired. Or if his short light brown hair was properly combed. Or if his conservatively cut suit and tie combo had an unwrinkled shirt to go with it. Or if he didn't look around the coffee shop like a cop looking for someone. Whom he seems to have spotted in Regan.

Regan sits reading the screen of a reasonably large PDA. Her gaze flickers to the entrance as the door swings open and pauses on the newcomer assessing him for a moment before she reaches a finger to turn off the PDA.

The man comes over towards you, a smile making it way onto his face. He seems quite pleasant as he says in a Colonial Bay accent, "Ms Regan Kirby?" Closer its obvious that he is only a four or five years older than yourself.

Regan's lips curl into a soft smile and she inclines her head. "Indeed, you have the advantage." Her hands lie flat on the table in front of her, her steady gaze resting on the stranger patiently.

The man smiles as he chuckles. "I know. Terribly unfair of me, huh?" He pulls out a leather flip case from his breast pocket and reveals a CBPD detective's badge. "I'm Detective Bradley Arnold with CBPD's Missing Persons unit. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Regan inspects the detective's ID for several moments before inclining her head and indicating the chair opposite her. "Not at all, feel free to have a seat."

Detective Arnold pulls out a chair and takes a seat. He smiles some more as he says, "Thank Ms Kirby." He takes a PDA out of his pocket and sets it on the table in front of him. "Do you mind if I take notes while we talk?"

Regan shakes her head. "Not at all, record away." Detective Arnold touches a button on the PDA activating the recorder. "You are an assistant manager at Steel's Gym, correct, Ms Kirby?"

Regan nods slowly, "That is correct, yes."

Joseph quirks a smile as he murmurs, "I know this is tedious and you have told other officers all this, Ms Kirby, but I have to follow procedure." He then asks, "You told the other offices you were there to meet a new client, um" He hesitates as if searching his memory. "A John Houseman?"

Regan inclines her head in another nod. "In retrospect I should perhaps have suspected that that was not a real name, but again that's correct."

Detective Arnold shakes his head. "Oh, the name was correct. We found the rest of Mr. Houseman's body yesterday. Harbor patrol fished it out of the bay. His head was already at the morgue. The coroner confirmed it today." He seems rather matter-of-fact about this. Regan blinks. "Oh, I see." She says thoughtfully.

Detective Arnold nods. "Yes, it’s a bit confusing though. Mr. Houseman has a record. Extortion. Assault and battery. We were looking for him in connection to the disappearance of his girlfriend's daughter a week ago." He reaches up and covers his mouth as he yawns. "Excuse me."

Regan watches the officer quietly, her brows knitting slightly. "Not at all, would you care perhaps for a cup of coffee."

Detective Arnold smiles broadly. "I would greatly appreciate it."

Regan presses a corner of the table to activate a pressure-pad menu set into the table-top itself. Pointing an index finger she twists the menu so that it is right-way-up for the detective. "What would you care for?"

Detective Arnold reaches over and makes a selection (black, strong blend, no sugar, cream), but at the same time draws out a credstick and inserts it in the payment slot. "Regs you know," he says in an offhand manner. "Would you care for a refill?"

Regan shakes her head lazily. "No thank you, I'm fine." She smiles. "Can I help you with anything else?

Detective Arnold smiles slightly. "Well, you didn't know Mr. Houseman I take it? Or the children that came into the gym?"

Regan shakes her head again. "No, I did not know Mister Houseman or the children. Or at least I don't recall having met them before," Detective Arnold sighs softly. "You said that the children acted oddly? How do you mean?" He smiles warmly at the waitress who brings his coffee.

Regan says, "Well, the girl attempted to immolate herself before pulling a butcher's knife on me, the two boys dribbled a severed head along the pavement and across the lobby before pulling a grenade. They were very morbid, greatly enamoured of violence." Regan continues. "And they showed no concern for their own well-being, believing that vivisection tickled."

Regan says, "Which sounded like an observation from first hand experience. Do you mind if I ask if you read the statement that I submitted at the time?"

Detective Arnold hmms then quirks a grim grin. "Sounds charming. Makes my nieces and nephews seem like angels." He seems to remember something. "Excuse me." He picks up the PDA and whispers something that sounds like 'Get gift for Susan' into it, and then sets it back down. "I'm sorry. Personal note. And yes, I read them, but I like to follow up to see if people have remembered anything else. It turns out we have an ID on both the children."

Regan's brows lift slightly. "You do? Have their families come forward? I was hopeful they could be treated.

Detective Arnold shakes his head. "Well, they are not being treated as of yet. The kids are still in the hospital in comas. As to their families, well, there's the rub." He takes a sip of his coffee. "The boy is Jerry Eisenstein. He went missing from Harrisburg on August 15, 2054. We haven't been able to locate his mother. And there's no record of his father we can find."

Regan nods slowly. "And the girl?"

Detective Arnold is silent for a moment, the murmurs, "Alice Weatherby, age 8, went missing while waiting for a train from London back to her public school in the Midlands on April 17, 2026. It was assumed that she might have gotten caught up in the Neo-Luddite craze as her father was a prominent computer scientist." He takes a long sip of his coffee after speaking.

Regan nods and inclines her head. "Interesting. Which goes to show Mister Rapentap travels. Have the children exhibited any unusual physical characteristics?"

Detective Arnold shakes his head. "Nope. They seem to be in good shape physically, but nothing out of the ordinary. Doctors can find no reason for them to be in comas." He seems to hesitate for a moment, and then adds, "But they seem to regenerate given that their bodies reject the IVs real quick."

Regan inclines her head. "My guess is that if you removed the IVs the puncture wounds would heal very rapidly."

Detective Arnold raises an eyebrow, and then chuckles. "If I tried to remove one of their IVs, the chief doctor on their case would hand me my head." He looks down at his coffee. "The kids seem in perfect health like I said. But they should be older. Hell, Miss Alice should be old enough to be my Mom. Well, not quite, but close."

Ferryl enters from Bridgend.

Detective Arnold smiles slightly and shrugs. "So, we have a mostly solved missing persons case of our own and Scotland Yard is thinking about sending someone over to look into Miss Alice. And in the meantime, we have two kids on our hands who act like little psychos, apparently haven't aged since they went missing, and are in comas." He chuckles. "And people say being a cop is boring."

Regan says, "Well, the good news is that we know who our suspect is, though that would be more useful if we knew anything about Mister Rapentap.""

"Psychotic kids?" Ferryl inquires, entering the shop somehow from the rear exit, sneaking her way in further. She's armed, but not in a threatening or concealed manner. "In comas? Problem solved?"

Regan says, "Well, these are the weird zombie kids who turned up at the gym."

Detective Arnold nods. "Yep, it would be nice. But no one has heard of him. Not even Detective Grey in Meta Crimes and he gets all the really wei..." He turns as Ferryl speaks, his gaze taking her in. After a moment, recognition seems to hit him. He nods to the feline woman. "Ma'am." His voice has a Colonial Bay accent.

Ferryl grins. "Heard of who? Why? What's up? I saw some kids just a few days ago involved in a meta fight. I remember because I got wet and I wasn't supposed to that day."

Regan says, "It's a very strange situation. With that sort of mobility this Mister Rapentap must have come to someone's attention at some point."

Regan says, "Though quite possibly not under that name"

Detective Arnold blinks slowly, then seems to think. "Was this before or after this last Sunday, ma'am?" He is speaking to Ferryl. "And can you describe the children?"

Ferryl shrugs. "I don't really remember specific days very much. They were in an alley and this guy was making all this lightning and...he probably made all the rain too, come to think of it." She frowns. "Going to need to speak to him about doing that." She shrugs. "Anyway. There's this guy who was nearby watching and rain was going right through him. Dressed kind of funny, but looked like he was going to some really snooty party."

Regan's brows lift. "Mister Rapentap has the ability to turn insubstantial. So maybe it was the same person."

Detective Arnold listens then nods. "Can you describe the children with this insubstantial man, ma'am? Was one of them a Japanese boy in a gray and black kimono?"

Ferryl nods. "Ferryl. You should probably know my name." She grins. "Yeah. One of the kids was dressed that way."

Regan says, "Is the Japanese child someone whose identity we're aware of?"

Detective Arnold smiles. "Oh, I do know your name, Ferryl." He takes out his badge. "I'm Detective Bradley Arnold, CBPD Missing Persons. You said someone was fighting with children?" He glances at Regan. "We have no ID on the Japanese boy, Ms Kirby. But we haven't given up hope yet. There was a crest on back of his kimono. We're looking into it."

Regan nods slightly.

Detective Arnold looks at Ferryl. "How many children were there, Ms Ferryl?" Ferryl thinks. "Four, I think. You'd have to ask the guy who was fighting with them for certainty. They didn't seem to feel pain, they weren't too impressed when he was being all scary."

Regan says, "Why did the fight start?"

Detective Arnold sighs. "So at least 6 of these kids running around town. Great. Plus their Fagin."

Ferryl shrugs. "I think the kids were menacing a prostitute."

Regan inclines her head.

Detective Arnold shakes his head and mutters softly, "What's next? Gluttony, pride?" He reaches into a suit pocket then holds out a card to Ferryl. "If you see the meta who was fighting the kids, can you give him my card and ask him to call me?"

Regan says, "We need to be able to treat the children already in custody. Though forensics on their clothing might give some hint of where they had been/"

Silver Spider enters from Bridgend.

Detective Arnold nods. "It’s being worked on, Ms Kirby." He looks like he is about to say more when his PDA goes off. He picks it up and takes the call, turning off the recording function as he does. "This is Arnold....Yes sir...No sir..." He begins to stand.

Regan's brows lift, her lips compressing slightly. "Something happening detective?"

Silver Spider's form slips in through the door, a glorious, smooth tumble as she moves like liquid, slipping across the shop. The light flickers off the midnight color of her costume as she moves, and she idly leans against the desk, currently oblivious to danger. "Coffee?" She says to the woman behind the counter.

Jennifer enters the main seating area of the coffee shop from the ladies' restroom. She's smiling, whistling a merry melody; and carrying a minigun casually draped over her shoulder. Waving greetings to those she knows who are in her sight she waits for service after heading to the counter.

A late twenties something man is standing next to a table where Regan is sitting. Ferryl stands nearby.

Regan glances to the doorway, her lips compressing into a soft smile as Silver Spider enters and then brightening as Jennifer appears. "You must have a dizzying array of weapon's permits."

Detective Arnold finishes up his conversation on the PDA with a "Yes, sir. I'll get back right away." He nods to Regan, then Ferryl. "Thank you for your help, Ms Kirby, Ms Ferryl. If either of you remember something more, please call me. He places a couple of cards on the table. "I'm afraid I have to go. You all have a good night."

Jennifer grins, "Military arms dealer certificate. I'm not a dealer as such. At least not on this dimension. But it's a general open ended certification and saves having to list each weapon separately, Regan."

Silver Spider turns to look at the little group. "Oh, hi, Officer." She says sweetly. "Something going on I can help you with?" o O (Here it comes. New costume. Knox Pooley's biggest fan. Off to the clink I go.)

Regan nods to the abruptly departing detective. "Of course, I just hope I was of some use." She smiles to Jennifer, her brows lifting. "So is that a demonstration model." Her brows knit as she re-examines the costumed form. "Is that Silver Spider?"

Detective Arnold glances over at Jennifer as he steps back from the table, picking up his coffee in it’s to go container. He shakes his head and smiles slightly at the hardware. He says to Regan. "You have been, Ms Kirby. Good night."

Silver Spider turns to Regan and flips up to the ceiling. "Yup! You guessed it! Ta-daa! It's me!" She lands with a graceful fwup and bows in the upside down position. "Did I miss the 9.9? Or are you guys gonna Russian Judge me?"

Jennifer chuckles, "You should know me better than that, Regan. The best demonstration model is the real thing."

The detective makes his way to the front door and out into the night.