Report #3270, Transcript Section #4
(Operation SANDMAN)
©1998 Shane Ivey

KEEPER:  So, onward! You had said that you wanted to visit Officer Lemonde.

ROGERS:  Yep Lundquist's driving.

KEEPER:  Okay. Night falls as you are en route, though it is a short drive from the hospital to the precinct house.

LUNDQUIST:  Rogers, should we call ahead? See if Lemonde's even there?

ROGERS:  Might be wise, where the nearest payphone?

KEEPER:  The precinct house is a four-story block of a building with narrow windows and old dirty cement facades, standing amid a weedy lot with small-time industrial shops nearby: car repair, electronic resale, and so on.

LUNDQUIST:  I've got my digital phone...

ROGERS:  Ah the wonder of modern technology

KEEPER:  You can find a payphone easily enough, or call from your own phones even easier.

LUNDQUIST:  I'll call the 116th Precinct and ask for Officer Lemonde.

KEEPER:  You get a switchboard operator, as expected. "Officer Lemonde is out of the station now."

LUNDQUIST:  Yeah, I expected that. "Do you expect him in tomorrow?

KEEPER:  "One moment..." You hear a ruffling of papers, then a vague shouted question. Then: "He should be in tomorrow from one to three."

LUNDQUIST:  "Thank you." I'll hang up.

LUNDQUIST:  Well, Rogers, should we try him at home?

ROGERS:  Best not to if we do that he could realise this is important. Don't want an alert cop just let him think its a regular investigation.

ROGERS:  What about phoning Barry and seeing how he's doing?

LUNDQUIST:  Good enough. I don't think anyone's going to be available this time of day. Except, maybe, Reverend Ezekiel...

KEEPER:  Maybe.

LUNDQUIST:  Hmm, if Barry is doing a drug buy, he might not benefit from having his cell phone ring...

LUNDQUIST:  BTW, Keeper, what day of the week is it?

KEEPER:  Sunday, still.

ROGERS:  Lets head back to the safe house and get ready for tomorrow. Unless you want to go to church and stand out like a sore thumb.

LUNDQUIST:  Okay. It's going to be difficult to get a hold of anybody now at any rate.

KEEPER:  It should be about time for the evening service at Southside AME.

LUNDQUIST:  We could drive by and have a look at least... Though it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go inside.

ROGERS:  Yeah lets get a feel for the place.

LUNDQUIST:  Okay. I'll turn in the direction of the Southside AME Church.

LUNDQUIST:  (In fact, we could use this time to drive around the neighborhood a little, and get a general feel for the area as a whole).

KEEPER:  The church is about seven blocks from the hospital. Driving down 16th Avenue you get a good long look at the neighborhood. It is no more pleasant than the parts you saw driving to the hospital earlier.

ROGERS:  Good idea get our bearings. Which could be usfull when we are on foot.

KEEPER:  Most buildings are 3-4 stories, with an occasional taller apartment building standing out.

ROGERS:  What's the building opposite the church like?

KEEPER:  Things are often badly in disrepair. Traffic is sporadic.

KEEPER:  Opposite the church is a typical building, four stories high with a squalid-looking cafe and a couple of shops (all now closed) on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.

ROGERS:  Can we check if any appartments are for rent?

KEEPER:  The church itself is a modest structure of brown-painted brick, two stories high (though its steeple stands higher than that, of course)..

KEEPER:  There appears to be a grassy courtyard behind the church, with a small run to either side of the building, bordered by a tall wrought-iron fence tipped with nasty spikes.

KEEPER:  Apartments for rent--there may be notices posted inside the lobby. You can't tell just driving past.

ROGERS:  We'll check it again or get Knight to do it.

KEEPER:  Sure, he can probably find out in a few minutes, or else tell you that he'll have to wait til tomorrow.

ROGERS:  No problem we don't want to stay too long in the area and get noticed and remembered.

KEEPER:  He calls back a few minutes later: No answer at the office. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

KEEPER:  Unless you just go inside to look.

LUNDQUIST:  Heck, why not? We're right here.

KEEPER:  You do see a number of people at the church now, by the way.

LUNDQUIST:  I can stay in the car with the motor running...

ROGERS:  I'll just walk over then and look at the shops then go into the appartment building.

LUNDQUIST:  I'll sit there with the Impala idling. And I'll be looking in all directions at once.

LUNDQUIST:  [g]

ROGERS:  Remember my paranoia, its on overtime.

KEEPER:  OK. As you try the lobby door you see an intercom box in the wall. The door catches slightly as you pull it, but it opens.

ROGERS:  Head on in.

KEEPER:  The lobby is a small room, maybe fifteen feet deep by ten wide. The walls are chipped and scratched with graffitti. A section of mailboxes is built into the left wall. A stairway leads up and down to your right. At the end of the hall you see two apartment doors.

KEEPER:  One wall has a blank space where a posterboard might once have been affixed.

ROGERS:  Any bins or likely places for the board to be closets etc?

KEEPER:  Not in sight.

ROGERS:  Check the post boxes for any that are full of junk mail etc

ROGERS:  Hopefully the relevent appartment will be unoccupied.

KEEPER:  Most of them are bare. There is one box which seemed to be overstuffed, though.

ROGERS:  Which number is it? And who is the mail addressed to?

KEEPER:  3-E: Randolph Phillips

ROGERS:  Grab one of the junk letters and head back to the car.

KEEPER:  You can see that much on the slot label--the box itself is locked.

KEEPER:  All of them are--occupants use little keys to get their mail.

ROGERS:  Just leave then.

KEEPER:  You get back in the car. The crowd at the church has thinned as people have gone inside for the service.

ROGERS:  Can we get a background check on this Randoph Phillips (great name btw)

KEEPER:  (Got it out of the phone book at random... weird world, eh?)

KEEPER:  Sure, it will take a couple of hours to get preliminary info on Mr. Phillips.

ROGERS:  (thought you crossed Randolph Carter with good old HPL)

LUNDQUIST:  What do you think?

LUNDQUIST:  I guess we ought to go before we get noticed...

KEEPER:  A police car cruises past.

ROGERS:  Best not to push it here I think if we rent the appartment we have a legit reason to be here otherwise very thin ice if someone starts asking questions.

LUNDQUIST:  I guess we'll circle the neighborhood a little more, placing landmarks, major streets, etc. Then head back to the safehouse.

ROGERS:  To the safehose?

KEEPER:  Okay. You can reference the online maps at the site for how the neighborhood is laid out, unless you had a particular question.

LUNDQUIST:  Hey, can our new NSA guy plant bugs, tap phones, that sort of thing?

KEEPER:  Whenever he gets into town, yeah. According to Osborne, that's the new guy's raison d'etre.

LUNDQUIST:  (No particular question, just wanted to have my character get a look at the area first-hand)

ROGERS:  Always usfull when the stuff hits the you know what.

LUNDQUIST:  Good enough. I think I'd like a bug in the church.

KEEPER:  It shouldn't be hard, assuming you can sneak someone in there to install it.

ROGERS:  That's what friendlies are for.

ROGERS:  ;-)

LUNDQUIST:  Okay, shall we skip ahead to tomorrow morning then?

KEEPER:  Passing the hard jobs off to the NPCs already, huh? ;-)

ROGERS:  fine by me

KEEPER:  OK. The safe house lives up to its name. Night passes.

LUNDQUIST:  We want to be sure they get done properly. :-)

ROGERS:  Thats what they are for and amusing death scenes

KEEPER:  Monday morning: June 1.

KEEPER:  Rogers, your phone rings.

ROGERS:  Answer the phone, "Hello, who's speaking please"

KEEPER:  "This is Osborne. Your ordinance is ready for delivery. When should I send it?"

ROGERS:  "Just send it to me at the Safehouse, when's it going to get here?"

KEEPER:  "One hour. Expect a CIA courier."

ROGERS:  "Right, any way to ID the courier"

KEEPER:  "Her name is Stacy Dorsett, DOB 9 October 1977."

KEEPER:  "She's just a courier, and she won't know what she's delivering."

ROGERS:  "Thanks, Osboune we'll be in touch."

KEEPER:  "Be seeing you."

ROGERS:  Explain conversation to lundquest

LUNDQUIST:  Okay.

KEEPER:  Outside it's overcast and muggy.

KEEPER:  68 minutes later, your electronics buzz to announce a car driving up.

ROGERS:  Let's wait for the courier. And then ring the station to check on officer Lemonde's itinerary

ROGERS:  Check out the car and occupants

KEEPER:  It is a young woman, about 21 years old, pretty and blonde, in a conservative suit. You can follow her progress just with the surveillance/security gear: out of the car, up the walkway, to the stoop. Then she knocks on the door.

KEEPER:  The car is a compact, about five years old.

LUNDQUIST:  All yours, Rogers. [g]

LUNDQUIST:  Is she carrying anything?

KEEPER:  She's carrying a heavy-looking pouch, zippered and locked.

ROGERS:  Get her to ID herself.

ROGERS:  Do I recognise her from the CIA New York Station.

KEEPER:  "Yes, sir." You don't recognize her. She reaches into her coat and produces a snap-on laminated ID card that identifies her as Stacy Dorsett, Courier, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia.

ROGERS:  "Hello, what's your date of birth?"

KEEPER:  She replaces the card in her coat. "October ninth, 1977. Social Security Number 418-88-1334."

ROGERS:  "Ok, you have a package for me." show id.

KEEPER:  She makes a point of NOT looking at your ID card. "Uh, yes sir. I was told it was to be an anonymous delivery."

ROGERS:  "Right, thank you"

KEEPER:  She holds the pouch forward, along with a small key.

ROGERS:  Take pouch and Key (hey that takes me back)

KEEPER:  She turns and heads back to her car.

ROGERS:  Check the pouch out

KEEPER:  Seems like it contains a small, heavy box. The box rattles metallically.

KEEPER:  Sounds like a double box of bullets, in fact.

ROGERS:  Empty it out and start to load up a few magazines with the Glasers (yeah I posted the glaser question)

KEEPER:  Yep. Within a few minutes you are loaded for bear. So to speak.

ROGERS:  Right shall we call Mr. Lemonde?

LUNDQUIST:  Not yet... I was keeping an eye on Rogers. But I'll call now.

ROGERS:  Thanks

KEEPER:  A different operator answers. "116th precinct."

LUNDQUIST:  "Yes, is Officer Lemonde in please?"

KEEPER:  "Officer Lemonde is not in yet."

LUNDQUIST:  "What time will he be in?"

KEEPER:  "One moment..." You hear papers shuffle. In the background you here chattering voices and ringing phones.

KEEPER:  "He should be in this afternoon."

LUNDQUIST:  "Okay, thanks." I'll hang up.

LUNDQUIST:  "Same as they told us last night..."

ROGERS:  "Well at least they are consistant"

ROGERS:  "How about checking out the apartment" any news on Mr Phillips' status?

LUNDQUIST:  Yeah, let's see if we can't nail down the apartment. Maybe Knight can do that? He seems to be our "streetwise" guy...

KEEPER:  You received an e-mail outlining Phillips' criminal and credit background. He's a waiter at a local soup kitchen. A few credit problems. No criminal record.

ROGERS:  "Lets get him on it and see if he's got anywhere with getting the Drug"

KEEPER:  Knight: he got the drug, and his source told him that he could get more from Peppy any time he wanted.

ROGERS:  "Any description of Peppy or was it all through a middleman?"

KEEPER:  It was all through the middleman, the other dealer.

ROGERS:  "Right, thought we wouldn't be lucky enough to get him easily"

KEEPER:  Knight says, "This way if I ask him to get more of it, somebody else can shadow him and I can still go back to him later."

LUNDQUIST:  Yeah, good point.

KEEPER:  "If the dealer sees me following him on his way to Peppy, he's liable to ask some questions."

ROGERS:  "How much of the drug did you get?" "We don't want you buying more too soon"

KEEPER:  "I paid him $500. Sounds like that should be enough to keep a heavy user happy for a few days."

ROGERS:  "Might raise suspicions"

KEEPER:  "Unless he gives some away to his friends."

ROGERS:  "When did any drug addict give stuff to his friends?"

LUNDQUIST:  They might have stolen it.

KEEPER:  "Yeah. But I told him it was for a friend of mine on Wall Street. Rollers like that give anything away to have a good time, long as they're not strapped."

ROGERS:  "OK we can get away with buying more then and following the dealer"

KEEPER:  "Sure, I don't see why not."

ROGERS:  "Lundquist do we want to do that now or later?"

LUNDQUIST:  Later... Tonight maybe. Lemonde may have some information Peppy that we can use.

ROGERS:  "Probably best to do it later and set up a good surveilance on the dealer"

ROGERS:  "Could even get Lemonde to follow him give him the impression we are interested in the middle man"

KEEPER:  "Whatever. You have my number."

LUNDQUIST:  Yeah, it will depend on what kind of an impression we make on Lemonde.

ROGERS:  "Hopefully we can just use your credentials to get some inter agency cooperation"

ROGERS:  "Even if we are lying to them."