"…Sequence"
(Sequel to “Initialization…” for stand-alone ignore G cell.)
FBI file copy
Sheriff investigation at dead end:
Three separate suicides, each died of manual self strangulation:
Simon Mitchnik, 43, general practitioner and town council member
Fiona Wales, 41, lawyer + notary with a regional firm, animal sanctuary financier
Jefferson Walther Bowman, 44, owner of the local store, a logistics company, and a construction crew
The victims were found the same morning in locked rooms within their respective homes showing no signs of tampering. No notes.
The coroner showed the manual strangulation was self inflicted, tox screens negative.
All were unremarkably unhappy, none had any reason for suicide. All were unmarried with no known relationships.
Bureau priority assessment: low
Hand written at bottom: Mountain Road 327, Container HXL-5794B-00153
G Cell: BRIEFING PREP
Prepare briefing to instruct first time agents right. Last chance to prepare something as G cell before playing K cell. During the mission G Cell is huddled up in one shared motel room with the blinds drawn unless stated otherwise.
K Cell: BRIEFING
Agents meet at a roadside diner to receive instructions.
On the way to the case there is a deserted scrap yard on Mountain Road 327 with freight containers and a dog. HXL-5794B-00153 contains a dusty box with a police file:
(20 years ago) The mutilated body of a woman was found in the forest nearby. Blood spatter indicates a satanic ritual of seven. She was identified as local high school graduate Lisa Palms (19). Parents, teachers, and church members were questioned but no leads emerged.
Coroner report: organs were extracted with non surgical cuts while the victim was still alive.
Attached: evidence bag containing her pearl decorated silver cross necklace.
K Cell: INVESTIGATE – Handler’s Eyes Only!
Sheriff Anthony Dougal, 52, secretly homosexual and in a challenging affair with a younger personal trainer. He is baffled by the suicides. His request to the FBI is not expected to yield much. The 20 year old file was lost by Anthony's predecessor which cost him the election and put Anthony in charge.
Audrey Winslow, 34, runs the motel with 8 rooms. She is telling everyone their business. Suspicious and secretive, she is an excellent source of information. If convinced she will eagerly report how Bowman ran the town with money and threats, how he bought Wales and Mitchnik to rubberstamp his corruption. They have driven families from their land to gain water rights and must be defrauding the state some way with their companies, road improvements and logging camps. Surely they were working for some syndicate because they did not live in any kind of luxury they could have afforded.
Sandoval Becker, 14, rides the bus to school for an hour. He likes to hang around the gas station on his bicycle. He vandalized Fiona's car and believes that may be why she killed herself, so he isn't cooperative. He has seen Bowman and Simon talk in the diner many times. Fiona was with them once.
Barbara Newman, 36, works in Bowman's store and is running it now. She is addicted to painkillers and steals from the store pharmacy. She hired Fiona for a dispute over a fence. Simon was her doctor and knew of her addiction.
Marcus Beimer, 53, runs the gas station. He beats his recluse wife Laura and doesn't like authorities. The suicide victims were customers. Their status made them unlikable, and he speculates as to what they might have been up to. If agents get him drunk he will recall the six used to be close 20 years ago.
Rupert Galloway, 29, priest. In the rectory at night Rupert engages his masochism online. He knows everyone and has a nice word to say about each victim. He performed their funeral rites because he does not believe it was suicide. He is deeply unsettled by the implications. Does Satan work his own kind of miracles?
Ford Reynolds, 42, accountant and consultant. He did Bowman's taxes but claims to know the other suicides only by name. If the agents present as authority and want to see Bowman's records Ford will make an exception and try to be as helpful as possible. He stays in his home office all day, seemingly working but actually also watching what Vivien, Lucas, and Charles see telepathically. He can use their senses at any time without them knowing. When they sleep he can control their bodies. At night he picks up Vivien from the Diner in his truck. To an observer it might appear caring when he is in fact controlling. Ford will only show a slight reaction to the cross on a critical success.
Vivien Meyer, 39, works at the diner by the gas station. She is a victim of Ford's and in a forced relationship with him. She looks worn and has trouble concentrating. She claims she knew Bowman by reputation and only heard of the other victims. In her youth she was quite a heart breaker but life has got her down. Her responses are monosyllabic. In a panic she may run away and call Ford for instructions. Vivien will recognize the cross with apprehension. She has been living in a personal hell ever since over twenty years ago Ford persuaded five of her friends to cast forbidden magic in the woods and then proceeded to make them complicit in the gruesome murder of a girl he had abducted. He made them handle the knife he then used to kill her wearing gloves and has been holding it over their heads ever since. Through the years other missteps have added to Ford's collection of compromising material, and his favors have gotten more substantial. Now he has killed the three most resistant to his guidance with insane magic powers. Vivien is scared.
Lucas Brown, 42, runs a logging camp and sits on the town council. He is a victim of Ford's and has been doing his dirty work like acts of sabotage, threatening violence or beating people up. It might have included murder. He knew Simon from council meetings and Fiona from several pending law suits against the town over water distribution. Everyone knew Bowman. Lucas will recognize the cross with his stoic features loosening for a second.
Charles Greer, 44, veterinary and mayor. He is a victim of Ford's and has been forced many times to corrupt his office in the deal. He knew Simon and Bowman well but has only talked to Fiona once in front of the district court, as he claims. Simon was a force of reason in council and Bowman was Charles's main constituent financing all his campaigns for office. Charles will recognize the cross and be at a loss for words for a moment.
K Cell: FAILURE
After the agents have talked to Vivien, Lucas, and Charles, or Ford feels threatened, events take a turn. Any time the agents follow one of the three they will lead the agents to a trap. A chase or invitation does the same. Not all agents have to be there for it to work, but a concerned call and consecutive loss of contact will hopefully get the others rushing in. The trap is away from Cell towers, isolated from voice radio, and even a satphone would be foiled by weather at this time.
The trap is a gunning down from cover. It is hopeless so G Cell can save the day with a sniper, escape vehicle, or timely warning. It should appear to K Cell like an almighty organization always watching their backs.
G Cell: RESCUE
Through personal channels G Cell has acquired FISA warrants for several townspeople's Cell phone's location- and meta data. Surveillance shows how the conspirators talk and that the new team is headed for an ambush at a remote farm where three suspects prepared a trap. They called each other and then their phones went out of range at one remote tower, the agent's phone just did as well. Intervene.
K Cell: SOLUTION
If caught after the ambush either victim will break down and explain the situation. One might have figured out that Ford can use their senses, but of course this means they can never tell.
- Charles, Lucas, Vivien, Bowman, Simon, and Fiona were tricked by Ford to murder a girl in the woods 20 years ago.
- Ford has been blackmailing all of them ever since.
- Ford has powers, he knows things no one can know.
- Ford killed Simon, Fiona, and Bowman as a warning to Vivien, Lucas, and Charles.
If another hears it they will protest vehemently. Ford is warned now.
To solve the mission K Cell has to murder or recruit Ford and ensure the survivors remain quiet. Vivien will require more than nice words. Even with professional care her ability to not discuss her experience must be in doubt. Agents can retrieve Ford's collection of arcane formulae written in a strange language (Aklo?) on parchment with… fluids.
DEBRIEFING
Mission assessment and contact to A Cell
Credits
This is an entry to the 2018 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by nono.