The Conspiracy tightens its rope... Also, prison. Because I've always wanted to write a scene in a prison. Welcome to MaxSec!
Haven Maximum Security Prison (MaxSec), Haven Lower Plateau.
"We don't usually get visitors to the prison" The overly cheery prison officer, Millian Irvine, said to Holly and Cecily as they passed through security.
"Why not?" Holly asked. "Surely officers want to talk to their suspects?"
"This is MaxSec" Irvine said to Holly, as if she needed reminding. "Only people that get put in here are 100% guilty. There's no need for a talk; Most are just left to rot in here until they see out their sentences or die. It's not a pleasant place to be, less so for the prisoners than for me though, I have to say. I get a padded room with a TV, they get a cell."
"We're here to look at the personal effects of a prisoner who was here between 3 and 6 months ago. Axl Snow."
"Axl Snow?" Irvine said, lifting an eyebrow. "Now there is an interesting character. 23 years as a MaxSec officer and I'd never seen anybody like him before."
"How do you mean?" Cecily asked.
"He didn't belong here, and he knew it. For a start, the crimes he was convicted of should not have landed him here. Unlawful trip to the surface and unlicensed firearm? Bah! I've seen worse offenders than him end up in District prisons. But also, the way he walked around the place during breaks and lunches and free time, shouting about how he could set people free and show them a world outside of their lives. We called him 'The Preacher'. All the other prison guards liked him, got on with him infact. I tended to stay away though, he felt a bit odd."
"How so?" Holly asked, finally clearing security.
"Just a gut feeling I suppose. He stuck out like a Pixie inside a Dwarf convention, that kind of thing. And for every prisoner that liked him, he wound up a few too. I'm honestly not surprised somebody decided they'd finally had enough and killed him. If I was already spending half my life behind bars, I probably would have too."
Irvine led them silently through the back of the prison and into storage, a vast expanse of crates, boxes and shelves. Haven Maximum Security was a large prison and held many inmates, but as they had to hold evidence for the LEP and for those fairies now deceased, the storage unit had to be able to fit everything and somehow keep some kind of system going.
"Just how do you find everything in here?" Holly asked. "I wouldn't know where to start."
"Everything is computer controlled. You just type in the name and ID code of the prisoner, and the cranes bring everything to you. Like so."
Irvine began tapping buttons on a keypad, so fast that Holly had a hard time keeping up with him. Prisoner codes were all 21 digits, Holly knew that, but she didn't realise that anybody could type so fast that 21 digits passed in 5 seconds. Then again, Irvine had said he'd been working in the prison for over 20 years. It was probably second nature to him.
"Here we go" He said, and watched along with Holly and Cecily as the clear rectangular box was placed right infront of them.
"I want one of those" Cecily sad. "Unfortunately, there is only a 0.2% chance I'll ever be allowed to have one."
As Cecily pined over the crane system, Millian Irvine was busy typing yet more numbers to get the lock on the box to open. Once it did, he put his hand in to start removing items, but he quickly stopped, a frown spreading across his face.
"This isn't right" He said. Holly moved closer.
"What isn't right?"
"This. These aren't Axl Snow's personal items. I would know, because I was the one that catalogued them in the first place. The box has a codex lock on it too, only people inside the prison would have access."
"Just like Foaly warned us, somebody has already been tampering with the evidence."
"Ferran Goy" Cecily said quietly. "Ferran Goy would have been the one who changed the evidence."
"Ferran Goy was also murdered."
"Yes" Cecily replied. "But he was murdered the day after. He would have had time to change the evidence whilst he was still here on the day of Axl Snow's murder."
"So" Holly said. "Now we need to plan our next move."
"We could look in Axl Snow's cell."
"He was murdered months ago, somebody else could have taken that cell and destroyed any evidence."
"No, Axl Snow was kept in G wing, which stopped taking new prisoners because there weren't as many being taken in."
"She's right" Irvine said. "Nobody would have been inside that cell since."
"Not unless Ferran Goy or somebody else tampered with that too" Holly said. "Either way, I do want to take a look. We won't know unless we try."
G wing inside Haven Maximum Security was a dark and gloomy place, barely lit with concrete walls and the never ending sensation that all of this was done purposefully to make all of the prisoners depressed about their life choices. Half of the cells were empty, such was the situation that prisoners had stopped being inducted. So now it wasn't just dark and gloomy, it was creepy too.
"Here we are" Irvine said, unlocking a large steel door. "Just shout if you need anything, I'll wait out here."
Holly and Cecily moved into the cell. There was nothing overtly out of place on first glance; There was a bed, a sink and a toilet. That was pretty much it. There was a window that let some light in, but it was completely barred over.
"This is wonderful" Holly said, looking under the thin mattress, but there was still nothing out of the ordinary. "Remind me never to end up in MaxSec, either as a job or a prisoner."
"I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wants to be in MaxSec" Cecily said. "Even the most hardened of prisoners find it tough. I should know."
Holly nodded. Cecily had spent 2 months inside MaxSec's A wing as part of a Psychology research paper she was doing during her early days of being in the academy. She never talked much about it though, and Holly was beginning to understand why.
"Still, this cell looks empty. There's nothing in here. Axl Snow apparently didn't have any possessions here of any kind."
"It was worth a try" Cecily said. They both turned to leave, but as Holly began to walk, her foot got caught on something on the floor. She looked down, and realised one of the panels in the floor was loose.
"Now this is interesting" Holly said, bending down. "The flooring in MaxSec cells are supposed to be solid, so why is there a loose panel in this one."
Cecily joined Holly, and between the two of them they managed to tear the floor panel out from its housing.
"Woah" Holly said, looking wide-eyed at what was below.
"Gold" Cecily expanded. "2 bars of gold. I don't think it's difficult to determine why Axl Snow became a part of the conspiracy."
"Millian!" Holly called the officer, but she got no response. "Millian?"
Holly got up and walked to the door, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the large pool of blood over the floor.
"Oh no" She whispered. She burst out of the cell, but it was too late. Millian Irvine was already dead, his lifeless, drained body cold against the hard floor. "He talked. Of course, he started telling us about Axl Snow. That's why they killed him. Cecily! Sound the alarm."
But as soon as Holly said that, she felt a hand roughly grab her by the arm.
"Keep moving, don't sound the alarm."
He was dressed up in a prison officer's uniform, with a cap on to obscure his face, but Holly knew that voice anywhere.
"Salt? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Apparently, I'm saving your life once again. Just keep moving. They'll know something is wrong so I have to get you out of here."
"You didn't?!"
"No, I did not kill Millian Irvine. Now stop with the questions, and just let me get you out of here before we're all killed."
Salt led them out of the prison in record time. Holly had never gone back through security so quickly, but apparently wearing a uniform is enough to fool most people. It made Holly think about just how easy it would have been for somebody else to infiltrate the prison. Maximum Security suddenly didn't seem so secure. But, as soon as they were outside and far enough away from the prison, Holly confronted Salt.
"What the hell is going on?!" She shouted. Salt just looked back at her.
"You stirred up the Hornet's nest, that's what. Looking into Ferran Goy and Axl Snow, they know you're onto them. You've made yourself a target."
"How do I know you're not still one of them, playing the part to gain my trust?"
Salt didn't answer immediately, so Holly pushed him over, into the gravel, and then stood over him. Salt carefully picked himself off the floor, but Holly's gaze was stuck to him.
"I still listen to the messages, I'm still dialled in. After the LEP attacks, the chatter went dead. Nothing for 3 months. I thought they might have given up or gone to ground, but no. Because today the messages started up again, and the volume was immense. And there was one name that kept popping out at me- yours. They knew you were coming to the prison, I don't know how but they did. I had to get there first because they were going to kill you! They knew you would go into Snow's cell to investigate. Irvine was a liability and so they had him killed. And you were next."
"How?" Was all Holly asked. "There was nobody else there. We would have sounded the alarm and the guards would have come."
"No!" Salt put his hand over his face, almost crying out in exasperation. "That's what they wanted you to do! Don't you see, there are still corrupt elements within the prison. Ferran Goy was not the only one. One message stood out to me, as soon as they knew. Someone in here is dirty, and they knew you would investigate. They rigged up the alarm system so that it instead of alerting the guards, it would open up all of the prison cells and set the prisoners loose. I don't need to explain to you that violent murderers and cops don't mix. Even someone with your skill wouldn't have stood a chance."
"So what do you expect me to do now, run and hide? Because that isn't happening. I'm going to find out what's happening because nobody else will!"
"Ahhh you infuriate me sometimes. This is a cover-up that reaches right to the very top of the LEP. Captain at the very least, but the ring leader could well be a Commander or Colonel, I don't know. But if you keep at this, they will not stop coming for you. And that's not a warning, that's a promise."
Holly looked back at Cecily briefly, who had pretty much shrunk behind her. But behind the timidity was a determination. Holly had been like that in the early days.
"We are police officers. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't bring whoever did this to justice. I'm not going to stop."
"Fine" Salt said. By now he had led them to his vehicle, a short way out of the prison. She still didn't trust Salt, but what he said had an air of truth to it.
"I'm being serious."
"And I said fine" Salt repeated. "This is your life. It's your funeral."