Blood Friar - Meeting

[Posted by Ted H]

Been pouring my free time into my Showdown card creation obsession, apologies. Have ideas cooking in my brain for writing though...

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[Blood Friar - Meeting]

To his credit, the cop was prompt and already in a booth when John arrived. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and had a crew cut, giving him every bit the professional image John had imagined. “Detective Baird,” John said as he walked over and extended his hand. Baird had been contemplating the menu when John arrived and dropped it as he rose to shake hands. “That’s right,” he said as he eyed John, “You’re not Blake though.”
“Observant,” John said as they took their seats across from each other. “Kind of my job,” Baird stated, “I was given a certain expectation of Blake, which you don’t fit. I assume you’re the other one he works with.”

“John Praque.”

“Yes, and while I am aware that you work with him, Blake is the one who has the expertise I need.” Baird seemed like he was getting ready to walk out, waiting only for John to confirm that Blake was in fact not going to arrive. John could already hear Matthew complaining in his head about the situation. He thought about lying to stall the detective, but he knew of all people to not bull shit a cop. John cleared his throat to give the news, but a waitress arrived before he could talk.

 “John!” she exclaimed as she placed a full pot of hot coffee on the table with two mugs. She then reached into her apron and pulled out a pad of paper. “The usual?” she asked without waiting for a reply as she scribbled. “You know it,” John confirmed as he looked to Baird, “Feel free to order. My treat, of course.” Baird relented and ordered, to which the waitress happily wrote down before asking “And should we get Blake’s usual order ready as well?”

 “Let’s put a hold on Blake for now,” John tentatively said, to which the waitress nodded and walked away.

 “I haven’t been here that long,” Baird said, “But it sure took her a minute to get coffee over to me. And the least she could’ve done is pour it.”

 “Blake’s got the girls here trained,” John stated as he poured himself a cup. “They always leave the pot for him. The reason you have coffee now is because they saw me enter and sprung into their usual routine.”

 “Interesting,” Baird observed as John poured a second cup and placed the pot down. The detective took a moment to consider the cup before reaching out and pulling it in for a sip. “Got him,” John thought to himself, secure that his potential client wasn’t walking out on him, and pleased as well that he too took his coffee straight.

 “I don’t know how far news like this travels,” Baird began, “But are you familiar with a story of a college house party burning to the ground?”

 “Like a frat house?”

 “No, just an off campus gathering.”

 “I’d have to look into it, but something as mundane as a house fire wouldn’t set off any alarm bells in the paranormal neck of the woods.”

 “Nor should it.”

 “You think the party responsible for the fire is supernatural?”

 “No. A suspect was ID’d at the scene. We picked him up and he confessed.”

 John shrugged. “Ok?” he uttered, “Did he claim possession or aliens?”

 “He had a rather...unorthodox rationale for his actions. Naturally, we ignored it. The insanity defense is pretty popular with young people who aren’t smart enough to lawyer up.”

 “So how exactly do Blake and I enter this situation?”

 “The suspect claims that the party host died in a very unusual manner, and that whatever had happened in that party would happen again. We paid no mind to his story at the time, but...” Baird made a face and took a sip of his coffee instead of continuing.

 “But other people started dying the same way?” John offered, to which Baird nodded.

 “Technically, it’s case closed as far as the arson is concerned. The unusual deaths are a different investigation altogether, and the seemingly insane ramblings of a college student are not factoring into the separate investigation.”

 “And yet, you’ve got that nagging instinct that says to stay on this hunch that it’s connected?” John asked, to which Baird smiled and nodded as he gestured back at him with his mug. “It’ll definitely pique Blake's interest,” John declared “Of course where business is concerned, even a simple consultation comes with its fees, expenses included.”

 “I expect as much,” Baird replied, “As long as we can get to the bottom of this, even if it’s all proven to be boring, I just want proper justice served.”

 “Sounds good,” John said before a moment of awkward silence settled in. “So,” he asked after a moment, the gnawing curiosity growing too strong in him, ”Just how unorthodox is this entire situation?”