It's raining in London... again (RP)

"I should certainly hope not," says Benji, frowning. "I’m just a worried friend. Is there any way I could speak to her? When will she be released, do you know? It’s just that she has a pet tortoise and someone will have to look after him if you’re going to keep her awhile."

- Rhiannon -

"Come now, kids. Give the lady back her fossils. No, this is not part of the expedition. Give them back, please." The harried teacher says, she tries to give you an apologetic smile, but there is definitely an undertone of 'why did you leave all this sh.. mess on the street'.

"School archaeology outing." She says, turning to explain to you. "Treasure hunt, clues, reward, that sort of thing." Which might explain why they are out quite so early.

A dozen kids shuffle forward and hand you rocks with varying levels of 'sorry miss'. You can't be sure you got them all before the teacher is moving them along. "Stay away from the broken glass. Billy, where's your buddy, take their hand. Everyone here? Good." She makes a show of checking a map before pointing and declaring dramatically: "That way!"

What do you do?

- Mark -

It sounds like you woke Jenna up, which is to be expected, this time of the morning. But she agrees to meet you.

• Where do you meet? Is the 'well-know place' your Sanctum, or do you go somewhere else first?
• Is she waiting for you, or do you arrive first?
• Does Jenna know about the curse?
• Describe Jenna, and describe your interaction with her, and the tone and nature of your relationship (working or otherwise).

- Benji -

The sergeant does not look at all surprised that you are not a lawyer. While your clothes are archaic enough, they are shabby and worn, and the obvious bruise forming on your face makes you look less-than-reputable.

"I can't let you in." She says without a hint of 'sorry' in her sentence. "And I don't know how long she will be with us." She did not check her records. "You can wait." She says, indicating some hard, uncomfortable-looking chairs by the door. "But maybe you should go take care of that tortoise."

What do you do?

- Benji -

The sergeant blinks at you patiently, her expression clearly says 'duh, if you don't know the prisoner well enough to have access you should not be here'. What she says is: "You are welcome to wait."

Policing has changed a lot in your time in the city... heck, policing has changed a lot in the past 18 months, the MET is under constant review. But they are not going to let 'a stranger off the street' in to see a detainee without a good reason. You get the impression that, while she is still being frostily polite, the sergeant is becoming impatient and, as a street-worker, you don't want to get on the wrong side of the cops (even if your licenses are up to date:).

There are probably ways to get more information, or even to get into the jail to see Lizabeth, but you are not her lawyer, so you can't go through official channels. You could also wait, it is unlikely to be more than 24 hours (so the possibly-imaginary tortoise should be fine:) but could be up to 96 hours, though you didn't get the impression from the description of the arrest that is was that serious.

So far as you know, Lizabeth was not (usually) doing anything illegal, so it is a worry that she would have been arrested at all, something more may well be at play.

• Has Lizabeth ever been arrested before?

What do you do?

- Jacob -

Jim looks annoyed at your repeatedly calling him 'James', but he does not say anything, he is used to being demeaned and is willing to take it for the sake of a score.

"Millicent asked me, of course." He says, gesturing south. You might know that there is a statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, a few block that way, and that Slippery Jim often hangs out around that area for the tourists.

"No tea! Thank you! My job here is done." He says more firmly, and you suspect he may think you are also mocking his Asian heritage with a 'tea joke'. Something has got him touchy today.

What do you do?

Benji frowns. This whole situation is very concerning. Lizabeth’s never gotten herself in any trouble like this before. Besides, he wasn’t lying about the tortoise and now he’s got himself all worried about Hermes too.

"Okay, I’ll wait," he decides. He takes a seat in one of the uncomfortable chairs by the door and waits, hugging his violin case to his chest and humming quietly to himself to distract himself from the pain in his head and the perpetual itch to bite someone. While he waits, he watches the sergeant closely, looking for any sort of opportunity to weasel more information out of her.

- Benji -

You wait for what feels like hours. The matronly desk sergeant's shift ends and she is replaced by a large bruiser of a man who pointedly ignores you sitting there. A few minutes later the first desk sergeant comes out from the back, handbag under her arm and umbrella in the other hand, and walks past you, deliberately not looking in your direction or acknowledging you in any way... But, as she passes, a slip of paper falls from her bag and flutters to the floor between your feet.

The replacement sergeant is finally paying attention, watching both of you, but, so far as you can tell, he did not see the paper.

What do you do?

- Jacob -

"OK. Sorry man, I know you didn't mean anything by it." Slippery Jim accedes. "It's been a rough few days at work. Politics, you know."

He nods and comes inside, saying: "Breakfast would be great. Something hot? This rain has us all miserable, ya?"

He looks around the interior of you shop, with the books scattered around the floor. His eyebrows raised. "You must tell me what happened here?" he says conspiratorially.

What do you do? How do you steer the conversation in the direction of your questions?

Benji waits for a moment when the new sergeant is distracted by something on his computer screen before bending down to pick up the slip of paper off the floor.

- Benji -

You think you avoided being noticed as you scoop the note from the floor. It says "We need to talk. Outside. 5 Minutes." It does not say it, but it is clear this should be done secretly.

What do you do?

- Rhiannon -

Who is there for you to talk to? Name and describe them.

"Did they 'turn into stone'? Or where they 'stone demons'?" Is the first question. "It makes a difference, you know."

They moved around close enough to the way a real body would to fool most people (but not Benji or yourself). Your blade went through them pretty easy, but Benji's blade seemed to grate on their 'flesh' which seemed hard to him. (Did you talk to Benji about his experience? It did not seem like it.)

• Does this hunter assume that you learned your lesson with Eligos and that they don't need to question you about disposal of evidence? We can assume that they know about that case, even if they were not around then.

What do you do?

Benji stuffs the note into his pocket and glances between the new sergeant and the door. He could try to leave without the sergeant noticing but, even if he managed that, mysteriously vanishing moments after the other sergeant left seems a lot more suspicious than just leaving like he normally would. He picks up his violin case and his umbrella and approaches the desk. "Good morning! My name is Benji. My friend Lizabeth Greenback has been arrested – I’m not sure why. I’ve been waiting here all morning for her to be released, but it seems like that might take longer than I thought it would and I’m getting awfully bored. Could you please tell Lizabeth to give me a call when she gets out? Thanks!"

With that, he heads outside to find out what the first sergeant wants to talk about.

- Benji -

The sergeant is waiting for you, the breeze tugging at her umbrella. She looks around nervously as you approach, but relaxes a little when she sees you are not followed.

She motions subtly for you to follow her and leads you around the corner, to a small, dark, Thai food place —somewhat circumspect, but still very near the police station. The owners nod in greeting to her and indicate that they are bringing her 'the usual' without her needing to say anything. She goes to a table near the back and asks you if you want something.

Once you are alone she leans in close and whispers: "I know you, don't I? You are 'Ben'?" She seems to be dredging back in her memory, do you correct her about the name?

"You helped Miriam, a friend of mine, a few years ago. She was struggling with addiction and you helped her get clean." Do you remember this incident from a years ago? Was it you or does she have you mistaken for someone else?

"Something is going on. Something ... weird? ..." she hesitates over the last work, watching your reaction as though hoping you will deny it and end the meeting. (Presumably you don't?)

"We all know Ms Greenback, we see her while out on patrol, and she is always polite and helpful. She has never been in any trouble with us." She looks around hesitantly and the food arrives at the same time. The restaurant is otherwise empty, and she tucks into her food once she is satisfied no one is listening.

"We were ordered not to talk to anyone, which was strange. But I assumed she would be released quickly. I thought it was a misunderstanding." She explains. "But they have brought in serious lawyers against her and her public defender looks scared enough to fold.

"They say she stole 'something', but aren't quite saying what. National Secrets act, type stuff, maybe. She is refusing to talk —which is her right, but is not helping her case."

She looks at you, unsure what to do next. "She is a sweet girl. And this is just not right. I don't know what is going on, but it is... not normal."

What do you do?