Report #3270, Transcript Section #21
(Operation SANDMAN)
©1998 Shane Ivey

Lundquist:
It seems to me that we ought to be taking some overt action against Breckenridge, even if we're planning to infiltrate them.

Rogers:
Not really, we could shake Breckenridge up some though

Lundquist:
It'd look fishy if we didn't at least search the lockers or offices or whatever of the guys we had the shootout with.

Lundquist:
Maybe we ought to get some warrants?

Rogers:
if we get something on them we'd have some leveridge when we have a chat with the man in the hospital.

Rogers:
Speak to you friendly judge.

Lundquist:
Well, my guess is that our adversaries will have long since buried anything incriminating to be found at the Breckenridge offices... At least at the parts we're likely to be able to get a warrant to look through.

Rogers:
That's true but it's got to be worth having a look round during the day so that if we decide on a covert entry we can have a map and an idea of the security.

Keeper:
(Keep going--I'm just rummaging through my notes and stuff while you hatch plots.)

Rogers:
Best get Danforth to wire us up as well, in case we have any missing time. Have to be very careful about it one obvious syatem and a very small back up device in case the effect allows them to search us, best take very little with us as well.

Rogers:
Let's not make their lives any easier than we have to.

Lundquist:
Okay, let's get a warrant as quickly as possible, get wired up, and go in to recon the place then.

Lundquist:
And you never know... We may just find something worthwhile...

Lundquist:
(BTW, Keeper, any word from the Marshalls at the hospital with our suspect?)

Rogers:
We'd best go in mob handed, hopefully any "missing time" effect will be difficult to work on a large number of alert policemen.

Keeper:
The suspect at the hospital is still comatose. It's only been a couple of days, remember, and he was in really bad shape when he arrived.

Lundquist:
Yeah, some maniacs shot the crap out of him... Okay, then, full speed ahead on the Breckenridge warrant then.

Keeper:
It's night now, Lundquist: you can make a "crisis" warrant request, but the judge will want exigent circumstances to allow it now instead of in regular business hours.

Lundquist:
Okay, maybe we ought to get some sleep and do it in the morning, then... What do you think, Rogers?

Rogers:
fine

Lundquist:
It's been a long day. Let's get some sleep and get up early.

Keeper:
Meanwhile, Danforth gets Kelley and Maddux rigged up and equipped for their surveillance tasks.

Lundquist:
Heck, why don't we ride along with them? Just as backup out in the car, in case things go south during the break-in?

Rogers:
May as well the night is young

Lundquist:
Sleep is for the weak anyway.

Keeper:
Okay. Maddux is heading off to One Police Plaza to stake out Daniels. He's going to shadow Daniels and keep him in surveillance.

Keeper:
Kelley is driving to Daniels' residence to case the joint and then to break in and bug it.

Lundquist:
We'll follow Kelley in another car.

Keeper:
You drive along after him, then, enjoying the stiff summer night air of New York as you head across the city toward north Queens and Daniels' apartment.

Keeper:
Daniels lives in a middle-class apartment complex, a real family-oriented place. There are shops and a coffee house on the ground level, beneath the apartments. The complex itself is 20 stories.

Keeper:
Daniels lives in a 1-bedroom apartment on the 12th floor. (As is traditional, the place lacks a 13th floor.)

Keeper:
The lobby is manned by a security guard to check visitors in, with video camera to back her up.

Keeper:
Let me double-check what cover Kelley scrounged up for the earlier activity...

Lundquist:
Fort Knox.

Lundquist:
I thought he said a janitor?

Keeper:
The arrangement is pretty typical middle/upscale New York.

Keeper:
Kelley calls on the DG-phone. "My plumber outfit won't pass here. This kind of place they handle it in-house. Any suggestions on getting past the front desk?"

Rogers:
"We're working on it now."

Keeper:
You hear him chuckle. "Anybody have some flowers I can surprise someone with?"

Rogers:
"What does the back of the building look like?"

Lundquist:
"At school, they taught us to always get a warrant. Other than that, about all I can come up with is setting off a fire alarm or something."

Rogers:
"OK we just do it the devious way, anyone want a bomb scare in the area?"

Lundquist:
"We can phone in a bomb scare, set fire to the place, fake a Martian invasion hoax on the local news, tunnel in from underground, and crash a small plane into the building. During all the confusion, you can just sneak in."

Rogers:
"Actually that would be a better tactic for the Breckenridge corp."

Rogers:
and then fumble your lockpick role ;-)

Rogers:
"How about the pizza tactic again?"

Lundquist:
"Kelly, maybe you could feign interest in renting a vacant apartment in the building?"

Keeper:
"They'd just tell me to make an appointment with the administrator. I don't have time to get a fake pizza uniform. Let me just pick up some flowers and champagne. Lundquist, can you get the name of a woman renting on the 12th floor?"

Lundquist:
"Hold on." Keeper, can I access some sort of tax records or something?

Keeper:
Yeah. It takes a couple of phone calls, but you can get IRS records from the place. The IRS database is antique, but Danforth can tinker through it to get resident lists for the corporation that owns the building.

Lundquist:
Okay. We'll send Kelly off on his errand then.

Rogers:
"Hang on won't the resident get suspicious when no one arrives at their door?"

Lundquist:
"Kelly can just tell the guard that he wants to surprise her."

Keeper:
"Yeah. I want to pop the question or something."

Rogers:
"Ok but be careful."

Keeper:
You watch Kelly park across the street. Danforth calls him with a couple of names. "Eliza Huffington sounds good. Thirty-three years old, divorced, no children, attorney with a private firm, good credit history."

Keeper:
"Right," says Kelley.

Lundquist:
"Works for me."

Keeper:
He steps out of the car, waits for traffic to pass, then jogs across. He's out of the plumber's uniform, wearing his usual dark suit and carrying flowers and a bottle wrapped in a plain brown bag.

Keeper:
You hear him on the bugs Danforth planted on him. He steps inside and greets the guard. She sounds friendly.

Keeper:
He plays it very slick. "Hi. Look, I have a favor to ask. See, I'm going to get married. But I still need to make sure she says yes. So it's got to be just right. I want to surprise her."

Keeper:
The guard hedges. "Sir, it's company policy that we verify with all residents."

Keeper:
"I know," he sounds pained. "I know... but... I'll sign in, no problem, if you want to check ID... You could call and make sure she's there, just don't tell her I'm coming up. I want to surprise her. I'll have her call in a few minutes, after... well, after."

Keeper:
A couple comes in. They nod to the guard and go past, apparently residents. Kelley waits politely. The guard sighs. "Sign in. Leave your license here. I'll call in a few minutes if she doesn't."

Keeper:
"Great! That's great. Thanks so much!" He gushes and produces his (fake) ID and signs his (fake) name and Huffington's apartment number.

Keeper:
The guard plays it cool, though. Kelley jogs to the elevators.

Keeper:
He gets in one a minute later and heads up to the twelfth floor. He humms nervously on the way up.

Keeper:
Outside, you guys see something new: someone starts doing graffitti on the wall of the apartment building, in a twenty-foot gap of wall between the lobby doors and the windows to a cafe.

Lundquist:
What do they look like?

Lundquist:
I get out and go quickly into the building.

Rogers:
I'll keep an eye out from the car.

Keeper:
It's a solitary man, thin, nervous looking. He keeps glancing both ways as he works.

Lundquist:
What's he writing?

Keeper:
He's wearing shorts and a baggy shirt, and he has a heavy-looking nylon bag.

Lundquist:
Er, no, what's he writing on the wall.

Keeper:
He's writing or drawing some kind of design on the wall. It's hard to tell, but it doesn't look like actual writing or a drawing.

Rogers:
I'm paying close attention to the situation

Lundquist:
Okay, I want to tackle this guy. I'll approach slowly, without looking directly at him. I'll try to look like I'm ignoring him. When I get as close to him as I can I'll rush him and try to grapple him to the ground.

Keeper:
You hear Kelley step out of the elevator. He stops humming. His breath is very even. You can't see what he's doing, of course. The bug faintly picks up a very light metallic rattling.

Lundquist:
If, at any point, he starts to bolt, I'll rush him then.

Keeper:
Rogers, are you following Ludquist or staying in the car?

Keeper:
I mean, you were both in the same cars, right? Or weren't you?

Rogers:
I said I'd stay in the car but if he makes a move I'm going to Back up Mr.L

Keeper:
car, singular, that is

Rogers:
yes with Kelly in another one

Lundquist:
Kelly was in one car, Rogers and I in a second.

Keeper:
Okay. Lundquist, as you approach the guy he glances around again and spots you. What's your demeanor?

Keeper:
Nevermind, I just saw above.

Lundquist:
Nonchalant, another New Yorker not wanting to get involved.

Lundquist:
Just strolling by.

Keeper:
He looks at you hard for a second, then he inches closer to his handiwork and keeps it up. It looks like he is rubbing the design into the wall with some kind of chalk. It looks like harder work than "taggers" usually bother with.

Lundquist:
Wow, what a funny coincidence. What's this design look like?

Keeper:
Rogers, you hear the slight squeak of a door opening on Kelley's bug. A second later you hear the door close.

Rogers:
is my link to Kelly a mobile ear piece or fixed in the car?

Keeper:
You've never seen it before. It looks cryptic and strange. It is definitely some kind of symbol, but you cannot guess at the meaning. As you get closer you faintly hear the artist humming or muttering as he works.

Keeper:
Probably fixed in the car, Rogers.

Rogers:
Right so If I help Mr. L we don't know what's happening to Kelly?

Keeper:
Right.

Keeper:
Then you get close enough to grab him, Lundquist: you're tackling him?

Lundquist:
Grappling him to the ground, with as much surprise as possible.

Rogers:
I'm gonna hang in the car unless Mr. L looks to be in trouble in that case don't want to risk Kelly.

Keeper:
Rogers, you hear very faint noises from Kelley's bug. It sounds like he is working quickly and very, very quietly.

Keeper:
Easier done than said, Lundquist: you get his arm and in half a second you have him pinned on the cement.

Lundquist:
"Freeze, buddy!!"

Keeper:
"Ow!" says the artist. "What the fuck I didn't do shit I'm cool I got rights!"

Lundquist:
"You low lifes think you can mess things up for the rest of us, eh? Well, I have half a mind to report this to the building authority!"

Keeper:
"Let me go asshole! Who the fuck are you? Let me go! Help!"

Lundquist:
I want to pull him up and drag him into the lobby, if I can.

Keeper:
"Ow!" You get him up; he's wiry but surprisingly strong. He nearly throws you off, but he doesn't know jack about wrestling. You shove him into the lobby.

Rogers:
Is his bag still outside?

Lundquist:
"Help! Help me!"

Keeper:
The guard looks up. "Hey! What is this?"

Keeper:
The bag is on the ground beneath the artists' work, Rogers.

Lundquist:
"I just caught this guy spray painting the wall outside!"

Lundquist:
"Call the cops!"

Rogers:
I'm going to go and grab his bag wearing gloves.

Keeper:
"You better believe it. What the hell is going on here?" She picks up the phone on her desk.

Lundquist:
"I was just walking by and I saw him painting something on the wall so I brought him in here. He's probably in a gang or something!"

Lundquist:
"These taggers, always defacing other peoples' property!"

Keeper:
Rogers, you get the guy's bag. It is heavy. You can see blocks of some kind of chalk inside, as well as small thin bricks of stone and a thick, stained composition book.

Rogers:
Right I'm taking it back to the car.

Keeper:
Back in the car you hear the door close again over Kelley's microphone. He waits for the elevator for several seconds.

Keeper:
"Shit," says the tagger, "this jerk attacked me! Help! He's tryin to break my fuckin' arm!"

Rogers:
Do I have a camera with me or is there a store around here selling disposable cameras?

Lundquist:
"You be quiet, you degenerate scum, you make me sick!"

Keeper:
The guard shouts, "Both of you just quiet down! Hello, police? This is Vivian Yearly at the Paulson Place apartments. I have a couple of guys in a fight here and I need some help."

Keeper:
You have a couple of cameras, Rogers.

Lundquist:
"No respect for other peoples' property at all! Think the whole city is your pwn private coloring book, eh?"

Keeper:
Rogers, you hear Kelley get into the elevator when it comes. Muzak plays as it descends.

Rogers:
Right I'm going to secure the bag in the Trunk and go and get some photos of the Tag. And maybe a quick sketch.

Keeper:
Okay. Lundquist, the tagger bitches and whines some more. "Shit man, go hassle somebody who's doing some wrong! Just like the fuckin' Mayor, man, too busy busting me to go after the gangsters!"

Keeper:
Lundquist, you see Kelley come out of the elevator bank. He looks at the altercation in surprise.

Keeper:
He still has his flowers and champagne.

Lundquist:
"You be quiet... you probably are a gangster! I know all about this 'tagging' and 'gang signing' you do... I saw it on 60 Minutes!"

Keeper:
The guard yells at you again. "I told both of you to shut up!"

Keeper:
Kelley steps past the guard. "Ma'am, is everything okay?"

Lundquist:
"Why are you yelling at me? I'm doing you a favor here."

Rogers whispers:
If i see Kelly coming out I'll call him and give him a run down.

Lundquist:
Keeper, I'm trying to keep my voice as calm and reasonable as possible... I want to de-escalate things as much as possible.

Keeper:
She nods roughly. "It will be when the cops come to take care of this." She looks back over. "You need to be quiet before you bother the people who live here!"

Lundquist:
"Yeah, you hear that? You be quiet!"

Keeper:
Kelley nods. "Well, she wasn't home. Figures, huh?" He looks convincingly dejected.

Keeper:
The guard looks at Kelley. "What? Oh. Yeah, that's tough." She looks at Lundquist and the tagger again.

Keeper:
Kelley says, "Yeah. All right, thanks anyway. I gotta go find her." He steps around Lundquist and the tagger with a curious glance, then leaves.

Lundquist:
"This guy was painting the wall out front! He's gonna be sorry when the cops arrive!"

Keeper:
Rogers, you see a squad car drive up right after Kelley jogs across to his car.

Rogers:
Have i got a camera yet?

Keeper:
Two cops get out, settle their batons in their belts, and head into the lobby.

Keeper:
Yeah, you've already taken pictures.

Rogers:
If not I'm just going to go to the car and start it up.

Lundquist:
Keeper, as soon as I see the police lights outside, I'm going to loosen my grip on the guy just a bit. Hopefully, he'll be smart enough to make a break for it...

Lundquist:
If he goes for it, I'll let him go.

Keeper:
He shoves you off, Lundquist, but he sees the cops. He looks sullen. You get a good look: he's about twenty years old, pasty, wiry, with greasy hair. Looks like he hasn't washed in days.

Keeper:
Lots of stains on his fingers and callouses.

Keeper:
The cops come in and looks around. The tagger just stands there looking sullen.

Keeper:
One cop asks the guard, "These your guys?"

Lundquist:
I take the initiative here. "Officer, I just caught this guy out front defacing the building."

Keeper:
She nods. "This one says this one was vandalizing the wall, or something."

Lundquist:
I want to fast-talk them into being on my side.

Keeper:
The tagger mutters, "'s bullshit man, I didn't do shit."

Lundquist:
"I saw him myself, putting a gang-sign or something out there. It's getting so that decent people can't go anywhere without getting an eyefull of their filth."

Keeper:
The cops look at the guy. One of them goes out and looks down the street at the wall. He looks at the tagger. "You. Is that your shit on the wall?"

Keeper:
The tagger shakes his head, muttering.

Lundquist:
"It most certainly is. I caught him in the act of putting it there."

Keeper:
"All right," says the other cop, disgusted. He takes out a note pad. He looks at you, Lundquist. "Give me your name and address."

Lundquist:
I give him a false name & address.

Lundquist:
"I'd be happy to testify or cooperate however you need."

Keeper:
He takes it down. "Okay. Charlie," he says to the other one, "bring in Michelangelo, there. We'll sort him out at the station."

Keeper:
"Come on, you," says Charlie to the muttering tagger. "But Bill, wasn't Michelangelo a sculptor?"

Keeper:
"Whatever. Thanks for your help," he says back to Lundquist. They haul the tagger out.

Lundquist:
Shaking my head and muttering something about "decent people" and "vandals", I walk out into the street.

Keeper:
Kelley has already driven off. Rogers is sitting in the idling car.

Lundquist:
I get in. "Let's get out of here, fast."

Rogers:
I'll drive off.

Keeper:
Kelley calls a minute later. "Daniels' place is set up and tests positive. What was going on in the lobby?"

Rogers:
"A small distraction."

Lundquist:
"Some guy, putting grafitti on the wall out front. I figured you could use a diversion when you left, and also, something about what he was doing seemed unusual."

Lundquist:
"It could have been a coincidence, but then I don't believe in those any more."

Keeper:
"Run it up to your CO?"

Rogers:
"You haven't seen what was in his bag yet."

Lundquist:
"Come again?"

Keeper:
Kelley explains, "Are you going to give the unusual incident to your case officer for analysis?"

Lundquist:
"Oh, yeah, of course. We grabbed the guy's bag, and Rogers says it's got some weird stuff in it."

Rogers:
"Presumably but lets have a look at the stuff first, I got some photo's of his muse and a sketch"

Lundquist:
"Good work, Rogers."

Rogers:
"lets get back to the house and have a quick look."

Keeper:
The bag has several strange chalky blocks and a few smaller, thin stone blocks, as well as an old and stained composition notebook.

Keeper:
The chalky blocks are of a few different shades; they look like what he was using to craft his project. Most of them show sign of wear.

Rogers:
"we nwwd to finger print the bag first."

Keeper:
The smaller, thin blocks. . . Are you getting the blocks or book out to inspect them?

Rogers:
they are in the trunk

Keeper:
That's right.

Keeper:
Back to the house, then? Or something else?

Rogers:
We can examine them back at base and take some precautions

Rogers:
back to the house I'd say.

Lundquist:
Yeah, to the safehouse, men.

Keeper:
You return without incident.

Lundquist:
Maybe Borrow is there and can process this stuff correctly, dust for prints, etc?

Keeper:
I'll assume so. He collects prints from the notebook and the small blocks and runs them through the FBI's database. Some of the prints match one Franklin Delano Hoder, age 20, whose driver's license photo matches (roughly) the guy you tangled with earlier.

Keeper:
There are other prints, but they turn up no matches.

Keeper:
The other prints are in the book only, by the way, not on the bricks.

Keeper:
Hoder has a record with citations for vagrancy and vandalism in different parts of New York City. He also has an unusual tag on his FBI file.

Lundquist:
Pun intended?

Keeper:
Borrow doesn't recognize it. Neither do Rogers and Kelley, who don't use the FBI database that often.

Keeper:
Not intended. Heh.

Borrow has joined the conversation.

Keeper:
Lundquist, you do recognize it: it's a Delta Green tag indicating frequent appearance at the Club Apocalypse.

Lundquist whispers:
Well, shucks.

Keeper:
Lundquist, your call whether you share the nature of the tag.

Keeper whispers to Lundquist:
For the record, you would have the basic briefing on Club Apocalypse: weird stuff goes on there, and law enforcement agencies have been singularly unsuccessful in conducting any meaningful investigation.

Keeper:
Also, in the book and on the small bricks:

Keeper:
There's one thing, and one thing only: the same design that Hoder had started to press on the wall earlier. It's a weird pictogram of no clear meaning, drawn over and over again throughout the book and on each of the stones.

Lundquist:
I'll tell the others about the tag. We need everyone on the same page here.

Borrow:
Any pattern to the writing? Or is it just abunch repeating duplicate images?

Keeper:
Rogers, you've heard of the Club Apocalypse a time or three. Mostly rumors, some wild, some mundane. Stephen Alzis supposedly owns the place. Nobody knows anything about him, of course, just the kind of rumors that make Kaiser Soze sound tame.

Keeper:
The writing is all the same image, over and over. There must be hundreds of versions of it in the book and on the little stones.

Rogers:
"I guess we need to pass this up to Osbourne." "Get him to check if there is any record of this design before."

Borrow:
"Good idea. Might want to do a handwriting anaylsis too."

Rogers:
"Maybe a visit to our artist's studio could be a good idea."

Keeper:
His FBI file lists him as homeless. Mailing address is listed as a lower Manhattan YMCA.

Rogers:
"Damn, well maybe we can arrange to get him picked up from the police station."

Lundquist:
"Well, that's inconvenient..."

Lundquist:
"Maybe we should go question him downtown, while he's still in custody?"

Rogers:
"We won;t be able to quetion him effectively downtown though" smiles evily

Borrow:
"Rogers is right. It won't be hard to find him really either. Just watch the YMCA, maybe get his file to see where he was picked up and just take care of this quiet and smoothly."

Lundquist:
"Well, we can do that too, I guess..."

Keeper:
His past arrests have been scattered across New York City, every borough.

Rogers:
"A collection job for Kelly and Maddux?"

Rogers:
"we arrange his bail or a lawyer and they just wait for him."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, I think we should do that."

Keeper:
Kelley gets up. "Want me to head to station where they took him, then? Maddux is still on Daniels."

Rogers:
"Take Danforth with you he needs to experience."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, why don't you do that, Kelly. Want some help?"

Keeper:
He shrugs. "I won't need it unless the weasel has bodyguards. You think he has any friends who care a lot about him?"

Lundquist:
"Well, he might have friends from this club he hangs out at... If so, you can just back off and we'll try again later."

Keeper:
"No problem." He checks Danforth's bugs and his kevlar vest and heads back to the car.

Rogers:
"I know you don't need help but on your own you may have trouble keeping him in the car, I meant take him as a driver."

Keeper:
Kelley adds, "Keep Danforth here for the equipment and communications. I'll tie our guy up."

Borrow:
Borrow just idly looks around the scene while choices are made, willing to tag along for any idea. :)

Rogers:
"In front of the police station?"

Keeper:
"Nah. I'll let him walk for a block or two first. Don't worry about it. I do the hard work for you Agency boys, remember?" He smiles and heads out.

Rogers:
"Sorry, just getting too carefull in my old age" rogers laughs

Keeper:
Meanwhile... It's now about 9:00 p.m. I have another 20-30 minutes online. What's next?

Borrow:
Anything I could examine that was picked up before I joined? Besides the bricks, etc.?

Lundquist:
I am rapidly running out of time myself.

Keeper:
That was the only thing, I think, Borrow.

Rogers:
"Shall we plan tactics for the Breckenridge op?"

Lundquist:
Perhaps... All we want to do is get a warrant and go in for some preliminary recon, right?

Lundquist:
Plus, if they've been nice enough to leave anything incriminating where we can find it, we'll take that too.

Rogers:
yes but I was think more of the backup when we go in covertly

Lundquist:
It'd probably make more sense to plan that once we get a look at the place's security, layout, etc.

Rogers:
How are we going to get the building cleared if we decide it now we can e-mail Osbourne for what we need and get it in place before tomorrow.

Rogers:
Sorry i didn't mean specifics just methods of reducing our exposure.

Lundquist:
Any ideas? Bomb scare?

Rogers:
As we discussed earlier, Bomb scare or other method?

Lundquist:
I don't know. I'm not sure I like the bomb scare. It'll grab more headlines, and we've already had more than enough of those.

Borrow:
Perhaps we should divide into teams. One as distraction, one as investigative.

Rogers:
Bomb scare seems best way couple of pounds of C4 and a friendly or one of us directing the search so that it takes a while to discover the bomb.

Lundquist:
Heck, we don't even need that... Just call them up and leave a threatening message. They'll have to evacuate and search the place just to be safe.

Rogers:
Better to give them something real they won't look to hard into the hoaxers then.

Rogers:
I'll go in with Kelly and anyone else who wants to come.

Keeper:
(An aside: cops and bomb squad do look a lot harder at real bombs than at phoned-in hoaxes.)

Rogers:
Probably best to go in as part ofthe search teams. Hell as a resident case officer I'd probably be required to turn up at the scene in my official capacity if it were a threat from 'foreign' terrorists.

Rogers:
Anyone got any thoughts?

Rogers:
or shall we tomorrow it?

Borrow:
Sounds like a fine plan to me.

Borrow:
With risks of course, but unless anyone else has ideas seems like the only feasable way at the moment.

Lundquist:
Maybe call it for today, think over our options, and communicate via email?

Keeper:
We can do that. Are you sending word of the Club Apocalypse angle to Osborne?

Rogers:
OK I can write up an e-mail for Osbourne tomnorrw

Keeper:
Good. OK, other questions for now?

Lundquist:
Most definitely. As per SOP, I send Osborne a detialled summary of everything that has occurred.

Lundquist:
Only to ask Osborne if he can help ID the strange symbol in the sketchbook.