Handler’s Notes
While straightforward, this scenario is designed to distract players with any number of red herrings. The location of Hayden, Maynard Keeting, the copper mine, the dying poisoned town all point to some sort of supernatural source. In reality, it’s one man pushed far past his limit.
Summary
Three days ago, sixteen headless bodies were discovered on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. Delta Green has pulled strings to get the agents attached to the investigation that is already underway. A-Cell remembers that last time something weird happened on the reservation (see Puppets and Shadow Plays) and wants to keep an eye on things.
Handler Background
The town of Hayden, Arizona is dying. A combination of the copper mine drying up years ago and the resulting EPA investigations discovering the mine had been poisoning the town for decades sealed its fate.
However, it isn’t quite dead yet. A skeleton crew keeps the mine running to avoid the bill coming due for the cleanup. Some people simply refuse to leave and others can’t afford to leave. The town just staggers along, waiting for an end that will not come for decades. Due to the number of abandoned homes and businesses, it’s become a haven for drifters, meth heads, and even a way station for drug smuggling. The absentee mayor of Hayden actually lives in California working for the same company that owns the mine. He only comes back to town in election years to talk with the old timers and get them to vote.
The Chief of Hayden, PD is going to change all of that. Even though he has more police cruisers than actual officers, he’s going to turn things around for Hayden. He just needs to deal with the criminal element first before he can start attracting the right kind of investment to revitalize Hayden. One body at a time, if he has to.
It started out simply : pick up a drifter, drive them out onto tribal lands, cut them loose and let the desert do the rest. A repeat victim of this drop off policy resisted and the Chief shot him in the head. After a frantic few days waiting for someone to find the body and a knock at the door, he realized he had a much better solution to the criminal element in Hayden. Dropping them in the desert and killing them was much more efficient than simply dropping them off. No one would miss them or come looking for them.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun while you work. The Chief started living out his wildest cowboy fantasies, fast drawing on his helpless victims, and always going for the headshot. He wasn’t a serial killer, no, he was providing a public service. Pretty soon, he was the fastest draw in the West with his trusty Colt Python.
Two years later, the Chief is still fulfilling his public service but the days weigh heavy on him. He’s taken to talking to his victims since he has to carry such a heavy burden alone. This helped, for a while, but the sleepless nights home alone were hard. No reason he couldn’t take work home with him to keep him company. Thus, the Hayden Board of Selectmen were born in glass jars on shelves in the Chief’s basement. He speaks to them nightly and they whisper back to him, tell him he’s doing a great job and the townspeople are grateful.
The Chief doesn’t realize that everything is about to come crashing down around him.
Briefing
The agents have been attached to the joint FBI/Tribal Police investigation being run by SAIC Michael Doggett, a no nonsense 22 year veteran of the bureau. He has 40 agents working this case including a mobile forensic lab. The 2 dirt bikers that discovered the bodies were interviewed, told not to speak to the media and released.
The agents' orders from Delta Green are to keep an eye on the investigation and, if needed, conceal any presence of the supernatural. Their orders from SAIC Doggett are to work with local law enforcement in the town closest to the body site, Hayden, AZ. It’s possible that the local LEOs have pertinent information and don’t even realize it. It’s also very likely they’ll leak it to the media for their 15 minutes of fame. The agents are allowed to inform the local LEOs that the FBI is investigating murders on the reservation but that’s all. They are not to mention the number of victims or the fact that they were decapitated.
Visiting Scenic Hayden, AZ
Hayden, Arizona is approximately 90 minutes southwest of Phoenix on State Route 177 with a population of 358. The ASARCO smelting facility stacks dominate the eastern skyline and is a constant reminder of how badly they poisoned the town. The town itself is sparsely populated with most businesses having left town. The only places of interest are the Police Station and Eddie’s Place, the only bar in Hayden.
The Police Station
Hayden PD took over a closed bank as their new headquarters. Two officers will be found behind the former teller stations, playing on their phones. Officers Cooper and David Carpenter were born and raised in Hayden, are young and only been on the job for 2 years. They will be intimidated by federal agents coming into the station and any interaction with them will be at +20%. They don’t know anything other than the Chief is downstairs “at the range”.
The basement has been converted into a makeshift jail constructed of 4x4s and chicken wire. A shooting range using the inside of the vault as a backstop dominates the far wall. Here, the Chief is practicing his fast draw with a chrome 6” Colt Python.357 revolver. He’s carrying on a conversation with the sole occupant of the jail, Maynard Keeting.
Maynard “MayMay” Keeting is a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan with a distinguished service record. His transition back to civilian life has been a difficult one. Instead of seeking help, he’s been self medicating with alcohol and illegal drugs. He recently got out of prison for good behavior after a bar fight in Phoenix and is on parole. Keeting grew up in Hayden and is currently staying with his best friend from high school, Officer Sam Cooper. He’s currently in jail for a parole violation (carrying a weapon), possession of an illegal firearm (Beretta 92f), discharging a weapon in an unlawful manner (putting 3 rounds into the fence at Eddie’s) and a drunk and disorderly charge. Maynard doesn’t want to discuss the events at Eddie’s other than he wants to go back to prison where he’ll be safe. If pushed, he’ll become manic and agitated. He’ll inform the agents that he wasn’t shooting at the fence but a ‘woman in white’ that wouldn’t leave him alone. She kept on bothering him until he snapped and pulled his weapon on her. She simply laughed at him so he shot her. She kept laughing and just walked away saying she’d see him soon. MayMay insists that he’d never shoot an innocent and the woman in white was obviously the devil.
The Chief intends to take Maynard for a ride out into the desert soon.
The Investigation
The agents will be welcomed with open arms by the Chief. He’ll be happy to discuss Hayden, its problems, and his plans at length. If told about murders in the desert, he won’t hesitate to offer his opinion on drug cartels and Native American gangs. He’ll even speculate that a serial killer may be using it as a dumping ground. A HUMINT role will confirm that he’s being completely sincere.
At some point during this meeting, one of the agents will receive a text message from SAIC Doggett that they’ve recovered a slug at the scene. It’s a.357 Magnum and they’re running ballistics now.
If the agents bring up the fact that the bodies are lacking heads, the Chief’s facade will start to crack. He’ll become indignant that he wasn’t informed of this sooner, that the town of Hayden, while small, is due the respect it deserves. He’ll need to confer with the Board of Selectmen immediately. He’ll even pick up the phone to make the call (he’s calling his own home phone.)
If they don’t bring up the murders, the Chief will eventually tell the agents that he has to transport Maynard to the federal lockup in Flagstaff. This is incorrect as the federal lockup is in Phoenix. This causes a commotion with Officer Cooper who was originally tasked with the transport. Cooper will be confused about why they’re taking him to Flagstaff if the agents don’t call the Chief out on it.
If the agents attempt to arrest the Chief, he’ll draw on them. He has a DEX of 14 and Firearms at 80%. The Chief doesn’t stand a chance but is too far gone to realize it.
Credits
Conditions of my Parole was written by AgentMarvin for the 2023 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ab4BwTwMOVCGga7me_u203patNOmeYYLirkTsLdLNgI/edit