Salt in the Wound [NSGS - Police etc reply here]

[Centralised Police Deputy]

Code: Select all

* Detective_Marquez walks into the interrogation room
* Lieutenant_Carlos follows on Detective_Marquez's heels
* Detective_Marquez sits down on the other side of the table
<Detective_Marquez> Mr. Sabillos, this is Lieutenant_Carlos, military intelligence.
* Lieutenant_Carlos nods
<Lieutenant_Carlos> Alejandro Sabillos, resident at 119 Evergreen, San Cristobal Norte.
<Lieutenant_Carlos> Is this correct?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Yes
<Detective_Marquez> And you played host to three individuals and their white minivan?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Sure. Esmeralda stayed over a lot. The others dropped by sometimes.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> The van was not mine
<Detective_Marquez> Are you aware of what your three guests did yesterday?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Not entirely sure. I knew they were going to hit someone
<Detective_Marquez> They decapitated Pierre Desjardins, the retired Speaker.
<Lieutenant_Carlos> And if you don't cooperate, you're looking at being charged with criminal enterprise in first-degree murder.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Sure I'll cooperate, as long as you don't put me behind bars for the rest of my life.
<Detective_Marquez> I'm sure we can work something out.
<Detective_Marquez> Now tell me,
<Detective_Marquez> you don't look like an Islamist terrorist that'd go around chopping off cabinet ministers' heads.
<Detective_Marquez> What role did you play in all of this?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> And you don't look like a detective. Looks are deceiving. I'm just a friend. didn't kill anyone.
<Detective_Marquez> Mhm.
<Detective_Marquez> So what did you do?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> I let Esmeralda use my house as a base for her planning. The other two came over sometimes to do it in person.
<Detective_Marquez> Were you privy to any of their discussions?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Sometimes, when I wanted to be. I can tell you only a little bit.
<Detective_Marquez> A little is better than what we have now, which is to say nothing.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Well they've been going for a few months. You must not be investigating very hard.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Anyway, they were under orders from the boss
<Lieutenant_Carlos> The boss?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Yeah. Nestor.
<Detective_Marquez> Nestor.
<Detective_Marquez> Do you know anything about this man?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Only that he's kind of far away. Controls things from afar.
<Detective_Marquez> Mhmf.
<Lieutenant_Carlos> Anyways, I believe we got distracted by this talk of Nestor.
<Detective_Marquez> Yes.
<Detective_Marquez> Go on about what you knew please, Mr. Sabillos.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Not much else. They were secretive. I heard talks of meetings in other places in the city, but no details.
<Detective_Marquez> Not even a place name or two?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Nothing. I got the impression that they were planning for this type of attack for a long time, and only recently got the specific detail that it would be whomever their target was.
<Detective_Marquez> This group.
<Detective_Marquez> Do they have a name?
<Detective_Marquez> Some sort of moniker by which they call themselves?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> They called themselves painters.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> But it was a casual term.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> I don't know about the group name.
<Detective_Marquez> So you say you let them use your house for planning. What was your relation with them before this?
<Lieutenant_Carlos> How long have you been friends?
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Esmeralda is my second cousin. I've known her since we were kids.
<Detective_Marquez> Thank you for your time and information Mr. Sabillos.
<Lieutenant_Carlos> We will make sure that you won't be arraigned on any serious charges.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> I'm trusting you on that.
<Lieutenant_Carlos> Misprision, 2 years is what we heard in the office.
<Alejandro_Sabillos> Sounds right.
* Lieutenant_Carlos leaves
* Detective_Marquez follows

[Centralised Police Deputy]

A police station
San Cristobal

Code: Select all

* Detective_Sanchez walks into the interrogation room.
* Lieutenant_Peters follows
<Detective_Sanchez> I am Detective_Sanchez of the National Police and this is Lieutenant_Peters.
<Detective_Sanchez> And who might you be?
<Lucia_Quinones> Talk to the officers who arrested me.
<Detective_Sanchez> We'd rather talk to you.
<Lucia_Quinones> Sure, do your research first though.
<Lieutenant_Peters> If this is how cooperative you're going to be, the Justice Department will indict you on treason and murder charges and you're looking at life in prison with no parole.
<Lieutenant_Peters> So let's try again on a different tone.
<Lieutenant_Peters> What is it that you want?
<Lucia_Quinones> I want to help you. You have to guarantee to help me first. I know many of the inner organizational workings of the group you've been trying to track, and I'm willing to divulge them if I get no more than 15 years in prison.
<Lucia_Quinones> That's it.
<Lieutenant_Peters> We'll see what we can do.
* Lieutenant_Peters leaves
* Detective_Sanchez follows

---

A hospital
San Cristobal

Code: Select all

* Detective_Marquez walks into the hospital room
<Detective_Marquez> Mr. Inupacios?
<Detective_Marquez> I am Sergeant-Detective Don Marquez of the National Police. Do you have a minute?
* Juan_Inupacios nods
<Detective_Marquez> Were you conscious when your rights were read to you at the time of your arrest?
* Juan_Inupacios looks quizzical
<Juan_Inupacios> I don't think so
<Detective_Marquez> You are currently being detained for criminal enterprise in first-degree murder. You do not have to say anything if you do not wish to do so, but anything you do say may be noted in evidence and used against you in a court of law.
<Detective_Marquez> Is this understood?
<Juan_Inupacios> Yes.
<Detective_Marquez> Mr. Juan Inupacios, citizen of El Salvador.
<Detective_Marquez> Is this correct?
<Juan_Inupacios> Yes,
<Detective_Marquez> When and how did you enter Calaverde?
<Detective_Marquez> Car, aeroplane, boat?
<Juan_Inupacios> Detective a moment please.
<Juan_Inupacios> I did not kill anyone.
<Juan_Inupacios> I shot three men, but I did not kill.
<Juan_Inupacios> I have never killed.
<Juan_Inupacios> What is the sentence if I am found guilty?
<Detective_Marquez> Your comrades have shot and killed several people.
<Detective_Marquez> Calaverdean law allows us to charge all persons conspiring in a crime with the crime.
<Juan_Inupacios> But I did not commit the crime.
<Detective_Marquez> In the eyes of the law, you have committed a crime of equal severity by being part of the criminal enterprise.
<Detective_Marquez> As such, you are looking at 50 to life.
<Juan_Inupacios> Can I reduce that? By helping you?
<Detective_Marquez> I'm sure you could, Mr. Inupacios.
* Juan_Inupacios groans and shifts on the bed
<Juan_Inupacios> Ok.
<Juan_Inupacios> I will help, if you promise.
<Detective_Marquez> We will do everything in our power to keep you from seeing the hard end of the law.
* Juan_Inupacios nods and grimaces
<Juan_Inupacios> Please.
<Juan_Inupacios> I will be slow.
<Juan_Inupacios> I am in pain.
<Detective_Marquez> First thing, why Calaverde? This is the first time we've heard of a Salvadoran coming to Calaverde for these purposes?
<Detective_Marquez> * .
<Juan_Inupacios> My cousin called me. His name is Orlando.
<Juan_Inupacios> He said this was an opportunity.
<Detective_Marquez> An opportunity?
<Juan_Inupacios> Work. Some money too.
<Juan_Inupacios> There was nothing back home.
<Detective_Marquez> Did he tell you about the nature of the work before you came?
<Juan_Inupacios> No.
<Detective_Marquez> You agreed to carry it out even after finding out its nature?
<Detective_Marquez> And the risks and possibility of arrest?
<Detective_Marquez> Or death?
<Juan_Inupacios> That assignment was my first in the field. I was kept in the dark before that. I handled paperwork and ran some interference.
<Juan_Inupacios> Yes, I knew it involved shooting an officer. I had no choice in taking it. My cousin took my passport.
<Detective_Marquez> How many people in this organisation have you been in contact with prior to the operation?
<Juan_Inupacios> Many, but only a couple by name.
<Juan_Inupacios> Orlando was kind of third in charge.
<Juan_Inupacios> David was second.
<Juan_Inupacios> Some other people too.
<Detective_Marquez> Nestor.
<Detective_Marquez> Does that name ring a bell?
<Juan_Inupacios> No. Is he a boss type of guy? I heard lots of "The boss says," but not name.
<Detective_Marquez> We believe that he is the commander, yes.
<Detective_Marquez> I don't suppose that you have the surnames of these commanders, addresses, phone numbers...?
<Juan_Inupacios> No. I was not given any of that information.
<Juan_Inupacios> I was kept at Orlando's house and worked just from there.
<Detective_Marquez> I see.
<Detective_Marquez> Can you confirm that this organisation called itself 'the Painters'?
<Juan_Inupacios> That was the informal name I think. I have a feeling that the higher ups used a different name.
<Detective_Marquez> Have you heard anything about some other group, perchance.
<Detective_Marquez> A radical communist group, the DLFC?
<Juan_Inupacios> No.
<Detective_Marquez> Thank you for your time, Mr. Inupacios.
<Juan_Inupacios> Thank you.
<Detective_Marquez> Your information was extremely helpful, and we will make sure that you don't rot away behind bars.
* Detective_Marquez leaves Juan_Inupacios to recover in his hospital room.
* Detective_Marquez salutes the police officer standing guard outside while leaving.

[Centralised Police Deputy]

San Cristobal's 18th District Police Station
Corner of Victoria and Independence

---

A fruitless day.

After obtaining access to countless databases, Medicare, welfare, employment, telephone and utilities, rail and air travel, birth registry, he was still not any closer to finding the identity of Juan Inupacios' cousin, supposedly a high lieutenant in the organisation. All he got is a surname, but other than that, this man was a total ghost. The only address on the record was for a home that had been demolished five years ago. All records in the past year were empty. No hospital visit, no welfare checks, no traffic stops.

What could he possibly be missing?

Resigned to another long period of document-searching, Don grabbed his cup of coffee and instinctively began lazily reading through the interview transcripts. He didn't expect to find anything new, but it was sure as hell more entertaining to read through than 500 pages of Medicare records. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a single line in the transcript. The shock made him drop his cup, which went flying into the ground, shattering into a thousand tiny fragments of ceramic and sending scolding-hot coffee onto his pant leg.

But it did not matter now. He could not feel the stinging pain. He needed to return to the hospital immediately.

On his desk was left the interview transcript, with a single line highlighted.

"J. INUPACIOS: I was kept at Orlando's house and worked just from there."

Three minutes later...
By then, Detective Don Marquez had hopped into his unmarked black police cruiser and began pulling out of the parking lot. He grabbed the radio and quickly pressed a few buttons.

"This is dispatch," came a female voice through the cackling of the old radio.

"Detective Marquez, badge number T11572, I need a firearms unit to meet me at San Cristobal Presbyterian Hospital."

"Roger. Scrambling an available unit."

---

---

San Cristobal Presbyterian Hospital
Twenty minutes later

By the time Don pulled up at the hospital, his car's sirens blaring at maximum volume and his lights flashing as if there was no tomorrow, two humvees were already parked in front. Seeing him arrive, the twelve beret-clad paratroopers sent by dispatch to meet him saluted him and followed him into the building. They were quickly guided back to Juan's room. While the twelve soldiers waited outside and out of sight, Don quickly walked into the room and went besides Juan's room.

"Mr. Inupacios," said Don visibly nervous, "can I talk to you again? I'll make it quick."

[Painted Gate]

Bump.

[Centralised Police Deputy]

Walking out of the hospital, the armed paratroopers still in tow, he quickly entered his cruiser and grabbed the radio. The soldiers waited outside the vehicle for further instructions.

"T11572 to dispatch, over."

"Unit T11572, this is dispatch, over."

"I need a unit to visit City Hall and another to visit the Central Library."

"What are they looking for, Detective?"

"Blueprints. Building records. City planning registries. Blue bungalow with a basement on the North Shore."

"Got it. Over and out."

---

Later that evening, he filed a report with command.

ALL-POINTS BULLETIN
BE ON THE LOOKOUT (BOLO)
All law enforcement officers in Greater San Cristobal,

A property concerning a person of interest in an investigation is currently being sought with utmost urgency. 
It is described as:
Blue walls
Single-story ("bungalow")
Possesses basement

TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE.

Then contact Detective Marquez at the 18th District if you see a building matching this description on the North Shore of San Cristobal.

[Centralised Police Deputy]

Code: Select all

* Detective_Sanchez walks into the interrogation room
<Detective_Sanchez> We've talked to the Justice Department and the Procurator-General.
<Detective_Sanchez> They are willing to meet your request.
<Detective_Sanchez> 15 years on a count of murder.
<Detective_Sanchez> Other charges get dropped.
<Lucia_Quinones> Thank you. Do you have it on paper?
<Detective_Sanchez> One minute.
* Detective_Sanchez leaves and returns a minute later with a faxed document
<Detective_Sanchez> The Procurator-General has agreed to it.
<Lucia_Quinones> Good.
<Detective_Sanchez> So this organisation. The Painters. Feel free to stop me if I get anything wrong.
<Detective_Sanchez> Is led by Nestor.
<Detective_Sanchez> Who is from El Salvador.
<Lucia_Quinones> No.
<Lucia_Quinones> And let's start over.
<Lucia_Quinones> "The Painters" is the name the kids use.
<Detective_Sanchez> Oh?
<Lucia_Quinones> Could you hand me a piece of paper to write it down?
* Detective_Sanchez hands over a notepad
* Lucia_Quinones writes the following: ال المخلصين الله آل الغفار والسلام الرحمن الرحيم الوهاب الحليم آل الحكم آل الخبير، الله آل محي، الأتباع ، الرسامين ل بلد جديد
<Lucia_Quinones> I missed something I think.
<Lucia_Quinones> It translates as such: Devoted children of Allah The Ever Forgiving The Ultimate Source of Peace The All Beneficent The Most Merciful The Bestower The Forbearing The Judge The All Aware, Allah The Giver of Life, devoted followers of the prophet Muhammad The Trustworthy and his teachings, Painters of a new country
<Detective_Sanchez> Very... poetic name you have there.
* Lucia_Quinones laughs
<Lucia_Quinones> Poetry of death, if you may.
* Detective_Sanchez hands over another document
<Detective_Sanchez> http://i.imgur.com/SPwE4e1.png
<Detective_Sanchez> This is a presidential briefing we gave Giuliani before his... accident. It represents a summary of what we know.
<Detective_Sanchez> Or think we know.
<Lucia_Quinones> Do you want me to clarify or something?
<Lucia_Quinones> I can do that.
<Detective_Sanchez> Yes.
<Lucia_Quinones> Ok, let's start from the top. Nestor's nationality is unknown, but his father was Mexican. Nobody knows Nestor's last name except maybe David, but he keeps cyanide on him, so good luck.
<Lucia_Quinones> David doesn't hold a Calaverdean passport. His father was French and he was born there.
<Lucia_Quinones> He doesn't like people to know that though.
<Lucia_Quinones> The man who stabbed Kruger, that I have no clue. His mission was being developed at the same time as mine.
<Lucia_Quinones> Orlando's last name is Hidalgo.
<Lucia_Quinones> He's Calaverdean.
<Detective_Sanchez> Would you know where he lives by any chance? Juan only told us about the blue house on the North Shore, but there's at least 300 properties that match that description.
<Lucia_Quinones> That's more than I know. Meetings were held at a place that was called "David's house," but I suspect he doesn't actually live there.
<Lucia_Quinones> I can tell you where it is, but very little was kept there.
<Lucia_Quinones> Everyone pretty much packed everything in and packed everything out.
<Detective_Sanchez> Very little beats nothing, I suppose.
<Lucia_Quinones> Sure.
<Lucia_Quinones> Give me a map and I can point it out.
* Detective_Sanchez gives Lucia an iPhone with a mapping application open
* Lucia_Quinones types in an address and hands it back over. It's in the southern part of the city, not more than 5 or 6 blocks from the university.
<Detective_Sanchez> Mhm.
<Detective_Sanchez> I don't suppose you know anything about the DLFC group?
<Lucia_Quinones> Only a bit.
<Lucia_Quinones> They've been in some contact with David, I think.
<Lucia_Quinones> No cooperation so far. But I don't know for sure. They were never mentioned by name.
<Detective_Sanchez> Right.
<Lucia_Quinones> So let's continue.
<Lucia_Quinones> The guy who stabbed Kruger, I have no clue.
<Lucia_Quinones> The CNC gunman is named Abdulaziz.
<Lucia_Quinones> He's on the run from both the authorities and from the group.
<Lucia_Quinones> To be honest, you're not going to beat them to him.
<Lucia_Quinones> Oh, and Paolo used to be a lieutenant. Orlando took over his job after he got caught.
<Lucia_Quinones> Are you going to make that asshole rot?
<Detective_Sanchez> Yes.
<Detective_Sanchez> He's going to jail for a long time.
<Lucia_Quinones> Good. He's a misogynistic, backwards idiot
<Detective_Sanchez> Are there any other addresses that you know?
<Detective_Sanchez> Even if it's just a storage place or a helper
<Lucia_Quinones> There's a gun storage in a home way out on the western edge of the city.
* Detective_Sanchez hands over the phone again
<Detective_Sanchez> Could you tell us where it is?
* Lucia_Quinones points it out. It's in the middle of El Barrio del Diablo Negro, one of the worst slums in the country.
<Detective_Sanchez> I think that's all for today.
<Detective_Sanchez> Is there anything else you feel you should add?
<Lucia_Quinones> Maybe tomorrow, I might remember something. One last thing: if you can get to David, the Calaverde operation basically shuts down. And you're never going to get to Nestor. Don't try.
<Detective_Sanchez> We'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Ms. Quinones.
* Detective_Sanchez leaves

[Painted Gate]

Bump.

[Painted Gate]

Bump.

[Ikania]

Ain't gonna let this die.

[Maklohi Vai]

This is the last bump of this thread. Please put in an archive request if you wish to have this thread archived.