Arcane Madness Club

Finan's quick browse online had told him the most important things he needed to know. He wouldn't claim himself to be much of a believer, which the Balfour family evidently didn't share with him. The website was filled with announcements raging against the current state of the world and ranting on the Satan infected governments around the world (which to be fair, Finan couldn't necessarily disagree with). They seemed to have formed their own 'church', denouncing the evils of the Roman church, and claiming them as being the only ones to know God's true plan.

"Ah yes, a cult. Fucking lovely" he mumbled with a tinge of annoyment, as he carefully swept his gaze over the crowd. He had muted his radio on Matthew's suggestion, although he would have done that anyway, he wasn't a child. Still, he knew the benefit of doing so as to not be disturbed. The Balfour family was not just any civilian family and he needed his full focus when dealing with them.

He had frowned a little at the sight of a countdown, which when having reached zero, would announce the arrival of some big religious judgement day. Finan wasn't worried for his eternal soul though, that thing had reserved a seat in hell ages ago. He'd have to carefully prod though. Something told him that the disappearance of Regina might very well be connected to whatever was going on with the family. It seemed to him like it was too coincidental, too close to each other. As had been explained, Lewiston had been directly connected with the ongoing Balfour case, so Finan was hoping that talking to the Balfour family might shed some light on their relationship with the dead man. Perhaps Lewiston had secretly been extremely anti-Christian and wanted to hit them where it hurt, shortly before their supposed judgement day. There were so many possibilities, Finan's mind spun a little bit with them.
He remembered John's words, stating they didn't know who the kidnapper was. He would have to make sure to not let it just slip out, ensuring nobody who wasn't supposed to know, would have access to some of the information that was available to the precinct.

Almost immediately after Finan had gotten close, the preacher briefly stopped droning on and an uneasy silence fell over the crowd. Finan, who had been leaning against a lantern pole close by, had been silently observing for a little, wanting to choose the right moment to approach. In his experience, he'd learned that as urgent as the matter was, people like this liked feeling like they were in control and viewed themselves as being superior to those not in their circle. He pushed himself away from the lantern pole now, and put himself clearly in John's eyesight. He luckily stood out like a sore thumb between the family's followers and the press. The man's eyes quickly found his and Finan quickly flashed his badge and nodded to the side, indicating he'd like to have a word.

The man nodded at him and followed him to the side. Next to the metal fences keeping the crowd from entering the crime scene, a tall tent had been constructed on the police's side of the fence for privacy. Finan had cleared before approaching that he would be able to use it, and now opened the flap to let John in before stepping in behind him and letting the flap fall shut. The officers who had set up the tent had left a few lights so Finan could now get a good luck at the man before him. John's eyes looked tired but Finan thought he saw a dangerous glimpse in them. Those same eyes now looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start talking. He softly (cult or not, they must be very worried for the little girl) but still firmly started explaining his purpose to the man. He purposefully looked the man straight in the eye, making it clear he was very serious about what he was doing and expected cooperation in order to get to the best solution of the case.

"Sir, my name is Detective Ryder. I'm a homicide and kidnapping detective at Cleveland PD. My job right now is to help Regina back safe as soon as possible. In order to do that, I need to ask you some questions. That sound okay to you?"

@Maggie

Stephanie nodded and motioned for Matthews to join her near the body and the entire crime scene. She felt it was the right time to update Aria on the latest developments in the situation.
Stephanie felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Stress. In hindsight, maybe they shouldn't have done it, but they were following standard police forensic procedures. At that point, they couldn't have known that the FBI would take over the case in this way.
As they approached the body, George lay on the shop floor in a pool of blood. Water had undoubtedly covered all the surfaces after he shot through the fish tank. Dead fish were also scattered around, not a pleasant sight. Nevertheless, everything was secured to the best of their ability. Stephanie reached for some equipment from a large suitcase brought by the forensic team and handed it to Agent Matthews, inviting her to examine the body and perform her duties. The scene had been secured, with yellow signs marking important details like the gun on the floor, which the abductor had used to commit suicide. Now Aria was ready to investigate in hopes of finding answers.
Meanwhile, Finan interrupted Mr. Balfour's preaching. As he finished and joined Finan, the crowd seemed pleased. It felt like something had shifted during the investigation, although John wasn't entirely sure. He followed the man all the way to the tent and greeted him, introducing himself. Behind him, Sara Balfour, John's wife, emerged and followed them to the tent. To those unaware, it might have seemed that she was merely a follower of John, but the police recognized her as Mrs. Balfour. The poor woman didn't look well, with a black eye and a cut lip.

John felt sympathy for her, and as Sara approached, he guided her toward himself, offering a gentle smile. It appeared as if he pitied her, feeling sorry for her injuries. Perhaps this was something Finan should inquire about?
@Willow Wilson @Finan Ryder @Aria Matthews

Finan was surprised by John's apparent willingness to cooperate. Logically, he knew John was a public figure, and he couldn't determine yet if how the man was presenting himself was his public/leader persona, or him as a person. He knew public figures often continued their roles for everyone except for those closest to them. On the other hand, as Regina's family, the Balfours were logically going to be very worried about her kidnapping and would want to ensure her return home safe as quickly as possible. He decided to first determine what he could figure out about the couple and then dive into the investigation questions he wanted to ask.

Upon Sara's entrance, Finan's eyes were immediately drawn to Sara Belfour. She looked unwell as well as beaten up. He didn't know much about the Balfour's and their relationship with each other, but he doubted it was an amazingly great or healthy one. Her wellbeing wasn't the immediate problem the case had to deal with, but his rough upbringing as well as any potential connection her relationship with her husband had to the disappearance of Regina, forced him to investigate this aspect further. He would have to look into Sara's position in the 'cult' and determine if prying her for more inside information on the family, would be a viable way of gaining for clues.

Finan briefly considered what the best approach would be to inquire about her state. He could try demanding to know what happened to her, but risk turning the family and their followers against him (and his precinct), or take the more careful approach, and first see what he could tell about their situation and then gently pry. Taking the precarious situation into consideration, he decided to first go the more gentle route, and see what he could determine.

He'd been a cop and detective for years, damnit. If anything, he should be able to read people fairly well. When he'd been starting out as a freshly minted detective, he'd learned over time to not blindly trust what people say and how they present themself at face value. People often gave away more than they'd like to just by their body language and tone.
His eyes flitted between the couple, trying to determine quickly what their relationship was with each other.

Finan rolls for psychology

@Maggie

After the officer dropped them off at the room Willow said to the kids “You can take a seat if you want” and smiled nicely at them. She then turned to the officer “Could you perhaps get them some water, I’m sure they have been here for a while now” She made sure the kids could hear what she said to get them to like her.

Willson closed the door and took one of the seats in the room, crossed her legs and grabbed her notepad from her bag. From the stance of the witnesses, she knew they were heavily annoyed and would just want to go home. That meant she had to work fast, have patience and be honest with the witnesses to get them to trust her. It also meant she had to be careful because they might leave out details to get through their story faster.

“I don’t want to waste your time! This whole procedure is honestly very annoying, so let’s try and get through it. The reason I’m here to question you again is because this case is getting assisted by the FBI, and they have their own procedure, I’m here to help with that. “So, who wants to start first?”

Willow rolls for charm:

@Finan Ryder @Maggie @Aria Matthews

It was pretty obvious, the relationship between the Balfours. Finan could see it as if it was served to him on a silver plate. John would never hurt Sara, and this woman would follow him into the worst of places. She loved him, so much, she was not only a devoted wife but also his follower. He could clearly tell, based on the way she looked at him. John was gentle towards her and loved her so much. He could never hurt her, and the wounds were probably from the attack that happened on the same day – someone stole Regina from Mrs. Balfour's hands; it must have been that. There was no other way.

Sara would do anything and everything for John and looked at him similarly to his other followers – with utter devotion. She must've felt great to be the chosen one by the pastor. What has he seen in her? Perhaps her support and unwavering devotion were enough for a man like John Balfour to be with her. She had all that a cult leader such as him would want.

Meanwhile, 2 young adults were chatting with Willow. They felt quite uneasy about being questioned by the police, but in the end they did witness something and mentioned it to the officer earlier. That enough made them a very valuable asset in this investigation. The woman sat down on one of the chairs, while her brother just leaned against the wall. Another officer walked away, to fetch those three some water, as Willow commanded her. This small gesture was for sure noticed by the young woman, as she smiled towards Willow. Together with her posture, voice and mannerisms, it was obvious for both siblings, that they are safe here. They were glad to meet such pleasant officer, who straight away showed that she plays in their team—she is on their side and just wants to learn what they saw. Nobody suspects them, nobody blames them for anything.

Young woman started:
The young woman felt weird about this, so she felt like she has to quickly explain why they did not do anything:
She seemed sure of her words, and it all sounded really honest. They both felt guilty, but what could they do to help, really?
Then, his sister started speaking again after a short pause:

@Willow Wilson @Finan Ryder @Aria Matthews

Finan realized his initial assesment of their relationship was a little shortsighted and it was more likely to have been from the kidnapping. He had only been globally informed as to how the kidnapping had taken place, so this would be the perfect time to inform into the details of what happened.

"I appreciate that, Mr. and Mrs. Balfour." he said first, making sure to thank them for their cooperation. He was well aware that the situation was rough for them, so he made sure to calmly continue.
"I'm going to ask you a series of question to make sure we have a better overview of how it happened, any immediate things that stood out to you and any concerns we should be worried about"

Finan had the standard questions memorized in his head so he was well aware of what to ask at the start of a kidnapping. He remembered vaguely the questions he'd been taught during training, but he did it often enough that the most important ones came to mind without thinking about it. Determining these factors were crucial when building a complete picture of the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping, as well as help identify any potential concerns he should be aware of.

"Mrs. Balfour, could you tell me exactly where you were at the time of Regina's kidnapping and what transpired from your point of view? Were there any specific details you can remember or something that stood out to you?" he asked her first, and then addressed the both of them, giving Sara time to process what he'd asked and allow her to get everything sorted in her mind before telling him.

"Then, do either of you have clear photos of Regina? Anything as recent as possible would be preferred. We want to make sure we have everyone who can out there looking for her, so it'd be really helpful to have a clear picture of her face. We also need to know if there is any emergency needs Regina has that might not be met right now? Think allergy medicine, asthma, heart disease or any other type of illness. This way we can send out patrols with this specific medicine, so that they can treat her on the spot, should they find her."

Finan also wanted to ask if they'd noticed anything strange happening before the kidnapping but he didn't want to overwhelm them. He wanted them to answer what he'd asked so far in as much detail as possible, and to have these questions get their undivided attention. Throwing mountains of questions at them in one go wasn't the way to do that. Once he'd finished asking his initial questions, he looked at them patiently. He had his phone in his pocket, ready to record anything of importance they might say or any evidence they might have.

@Maggie

"Thank you for securing it", she said politely. Usually she preferred if police didn't touch anything on the crime scene. Sometimes even moving a piece of clothing was enough to change the understanding of what happened.

She started the investigation from the simple look around. She didn't want to touch anything just yet. There he was, the man who worked with her before, who once was like a mentor to her. Now he laid in a pool of water with blood and dead fish around him. Not the most pleasant moment to see your friend.
While walking around, carefully, not to touch anything, she was taking notes of what was in front of her. She was creating assumptions and making sure that every detail was covered. Aria knew that she'll have to see the disguise later, but she first wanted to write down everything that was still not touched. She was focused on her work. The only thing that were making sounds in the room were her pencil and water, when she was walking through it.

When she was down with the first walk-through, she took the camera and started taking pictures. Still not saying anything except for few comments to herself. Stephanie could hear her saying that she used wrong angle or that the water is not making it easy.

When all the pictures were taken, Aria could proceed to her favourite part. She changed her gloves and took the sample equipment. Taking the physical evidence was almost as interesting as checking it in the lab. She collected everything, from the gun that was laying on the side to the saliva from the mouth of the dead man. She had to check if he had any substances that made him act like this.

"Can I now see those clothes?", she asked after being quiet for so long. Her voice sounded loudly compared to the complete silence that was around them.

While walking back to Stephanie, she looked down on her notes to make sure that she collected all the necessary evidence.

Aria rolls for Forensic

@Maggie

Balfours nodded, ready for the questions. They appeared willing to cooperate, despite John's initial intimidating presence. He was determined to help them find little Regina, willing to do anything to get his daughter back. He glanced at his wife, and she began to speak:
Then, Sara Balfour pulled out a small child-like backpack in the shape of a ladybug. The terrified woman clung to it as if it were the only memory of her daughter. Sara Balfour sniffled and added with a weaker voice:
Considering the photos for a moment, Mr. Balfour spoke:
Then, as Finan inquired further, Mrs. Balfour nearly broke down while explaining the situation:
John Balfour seemed well-informed about his daughter's condition and tried to remain composed while describing the situation.

While Aria examined George Lewiston's lifeless body, the situation appeared rather straightforward. The man had entered the shop in a crafted disguise, containing glasses, a hat, a fake moustache, and a beard. Aria's expertise allowed her to discern that the man had gone to great lengths – his fingerprints had been deliberately erased, seemingly by some form of acid or other method. It was evident that he was determined to remain unidentifiable, well aware of the telltale signs that investigators would be searching for. Perhaps he had a specific reason to conceal his identity from the Balfours themselves, but that remained uncertain.

Physically, there was nothing distinctive about the man's body. However, Aria did observe a cluster of lice crawling on his head, although his overall hygiene didn't appear excessively poor. There was no odour, indicating that he hadn't been intoxicated during the abduction and didn't seem to be under the influence of any other substances. No signs of a struggle or unusual bruises were evident.

Yet, Aria made another discovery – the shooter had taken his own life against an exterior wall of the store, a location where it was unlikely anyone else would be struck by a through-and-through gunshot. Notably, George carried no form of identification on his person.

@Aria Matthews @Finan Ryder @Willow Wilson

Willow listened intently as the 2 spoke. Taking notes about the location, vehicle, the woman. It was hard seeing how they were struggling with what happened. She can’t imagine what she would have done if she had been in their situation. This really was no fault of theirs.

After they were done recalling their story Willow still had some questions that could help them in this investigation. “Thank you for telling me this! Really. That sounds like you have been through a lot. You two are not to fault for any of this. I want you to know that. You couldn’t have known, so coming to us and telling me what happened is the best thing you could have done in this situation. I do have some small questions and after you can head out and go home if you wish. Maybe there is a counsellor here somewhere if you’d like to talk to one.”

Thinking back to the beginning of the police academy she tried to remember the most important information. Time, location, objects, people, identifiers. The time of the incident can be crucial, so she should definitely ask about that. The location can’t be more specific. The woman’s clothing could be something they remember. Maybe the vehicle has bumper stickers or damage to identify it better.
“Do you remember what time this happened? It can help let us know if there was time between the kidnapping of the girl and if they went straight here or if something happened in between. And what was the woman wearing? Maybe any specific jewellery she was wearing? Lastly, did the car have any damage? Or bumper stickers? Darkened back windows?"

That’s all she could think of for now, she didn’t expect them to know everything but sometimes witnesses don’t know what could be considered as evidence or not. So being specific tends to help. After they answer she will ask the officer who helped her bring her some new witnesses. In the meantime, she will probably write everything down in chronological order with the evidence markers accordingly. It helps her keep her head clear if she is very perfectionistic about her notes. maybe radio her colleagues about what she found out.

@Maggie

Finan sharply noted down each detail the Balfours told him. He wasn't overly familiar with Regina's condition but he would look into it to make sure what kind of deadline they were working with. He then quickly pulled out his phone and wrote the name out in his notes. He honestly preferred using a notepad but like the dumbass he was, he'd forgotten it at the precinct. He didn't like lending stuff from others, so he had resigned himself to using his phone. Someone bless his decision to buy a phone with long battery life and keep it charged before going on duty.

Finan felt a pang of sympathy as Sara Belfour told her perspective of what happened. He was she was terribly worried and scared. Not that his parents would have done that, but he could understand and made sure to reassure her.
"Miss Balfour, we still have to look at the CCTV footage but I trust you did everything you could to stop him from taking Regina. Thank you for sharing what happened."

He then turned to the both of them.

"Thank you. I will give you an email address you can send Regina's photos to. If you could include any information about her condition you feel we should know about, please send it along. I will make sure that all squad cars and officers on the case carry the needed medicine pump."

As he told them about his intentions, he realized something. Damn, he was getting old that it had taken him this long to think about this fact. Finan then turned fully to Sara.

"Miss Balfour, you mentioned he initially left without the bag right? So either Regina was able to tell him she needed the medicine and he suddenly decided to grow a conscience or he must have known she suffers from the condition and knew she needed medicine. Is Regina's illness commonly known or would only a select handful of people know about it? Any names you could provide would be helpful in narrowing down the suspects."

While Finan was aware it could have been possible that George had stumbled across the information and thus knew, he didn't want to exclude the possibility he had been instructed by or working with anyone else. It was very important to know just how public Regina's condition was and if George could have known by himself. He also wasn't sure what the Balfours knew about George's job before he had moved. He wanted to be careful and ask his chief for this information before revealing more to the family.

@Maggie